The DLSS Cruise
by Science-Fantasy93
Summary: Exploding cars. Revealed secrets. Blackmail. The guys & Katie are threatened into a cruise, only to find they're in danger anyway. A fight ruined their friendship, but now they need to work together if they want to get off/survive the DLS-S cruise.
1. Chapter 1

_**Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my second Big Time Rush fic! Applause, roses, chocolate, I accept them all.**_

_**Disclaimer: Own Big Time Rush? Hah! I wish! It would be one of the best things ever! But that twist of fate hasn't occured yet, so...Nope, don't own Big Time Rush. I do own their DVDs though, which I'm very proud of. ;)**_

_**So, I talk a lot in the beginning of chapters, always have, and probably always will. But, you see, I like to talk a little bit about the chapters and sometimes the story as a whole...so here goes: This story is a mystery/drama/angst/romance fic. It's a little bit different from what I usually write (romance, comedy, some science fantasy [just take a look at my name for the last one!], so there'll probably be some rough patches, but I'm determined to claw my way through. Besides, I've had this idea in my head for a couple of months, and it's been driving me nuts. So...**_

_**This chapter is all in Katie's POV, and incase you don't look at the chapter titles, it's part 1. Yes, there's a part 2, although technically it's the second chapter, and it'll be from James's POV. The two chapters were originally combined, but they got too long.**_

_**Okay, anything else I have to say I'll just say at the end, like most normal people (but I'm not normal, so that excuse just doesn't work).**_

**_Enjoyed the chapter!_**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 – The Invitation Part 1<strong>

**(Wednesday, April 30****th****)**

**Katie's POV**

My head ached and I was beyond exhausted, my brain still sifting its way through all the useless information I had picked up that day. Let's see…X=Y…since when? Where did the Gettysburg address take place? Take a guess at that one. Why was James Diamond's newest single number one on iTunes? Oh, wait, that question hadn't come up in any of my classes. Besides, the answer was pretty obvious.

It was the sex appeal he oozed, that he worked to his advantage.

But that wasn't the point. I did my best not to think about James and any of my brother's ex-best friends. Come to think of it, I did my best not to think of Kendall at all, because I was still too pissed off with him to really think of him in a rational, non-violent way.

From behind me, a horn honked, and I immediately snapped out of the faraway zone my brain had been drifting off to, and hit the gas of my '95 black Honda Civic. The car lurched forward and I continued to press my foot against the pedal harder and harder, until I finally got it up to thirty-five miles per hour. Well, maybe thirty-two miles per hour. The piece of crap refused to go faster than, say, slug speed, which meant that whoever ended up behind me on the highway tended to zoom around me in less than a second. It was pretty pathetic. But it was the only car that I could afford, thanks to my brother and his stupid ex-friends.

I continued down Main Street of Chasm Lake, the small Minnesota town that I had grown up in, had left for a wonderful six years, and then had been forced to return to three years ago.

Chasm Lake. What an appropriate name for the place. Really, that was all the town was – a lake, and a chasm of land in the middle of Nowhere County, Minnesota. Most of the people I knew hated this place, and wanted to leave, but very few rarely ever made it out. I had almost left for good…and then just when I thought I had triumphed, I had been pulled back in.

I signaled and turned left, onto the street I had spent the first eleven years of my life on, and had spent the past four years of my life plotting my escape.

I pulled into the all-too familiar driveway, in front of the all-too familiar tiny house. I parked the car, shut off the ignition, and hauled my tired body out of the driver's seat, grabbing my backpack as I did so. I threw the ten pound bag over my shoulders and walked up the pathway to the front door. I paused on the door stoop while I fumbled with my keys, finally getting the proper one into the door lock. I turned it and there was a clicking sound, signaling the key had worked this time. It didn't always – there had been days, particularly in the middle of winter, when it was twenty below zero, when the lock refused to be, well, unlocked. But since it was spring and everything was de-thawing, the lock worked just fine.

I turned the doorknob and walked into the small, but neatly furnished living room. It was dark in there, the entire house was dark, and since I hadn't seen Mom's car in the driveway, I could safely assume that she was still at work at the diner. I glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and saw that it was only

3:30 PM. No wonder. Mom wouldn't be home for another hour or so, and that was if she didn't pick up a double shift.

I was exhausted, but I had a shitload of homework that needed to be done before I needed to leave for my job as a waitress at the same diner that Mom worked on.

I dragged myself down the hall to my room, plopped down in my desk chair, slipped my earbuds into my ears, and clicked on a Sum 41 album. Ahhhh. Complaining and pessimism. Just what I needed.

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays it's the same routine. I drive down to the local community college, try to force myself through Algebra II (because I couldn't pass it in high school), U.S History 105, and Economics 100, before driving back home, forcing myself through all of my homework, before leaving at 7:30 for my four hour shift. The diner is open 24/7, even on Sundays, thus the reason why I got off at midnight. If I was lucky, I would get home around 12:30 AM, and would collapse for the next six hours or so, until I had to drag my ass out of bed again. Tuesdays and Thursdays and the weekend were the best days, because I didn't have to work so I could more or less catch up on my sleep and any homework I had been forced to leave undone the night before.

It could be a miserable existence at times, but I was just going through the motions until I could get the hell out of here. But there I was, nineteen years old, the sister to a two-time-successful brother, and I was still living in the same crappy town, in the same crappy house, that I had before Brother Dearest made his first million.

At 4:30, just as I had predicted, I heard the front door open and Mom call out to me.

I abandoned the evil algebra problem I had been trying to solve, and headed out into the living room where she had just collapsed on the couch. Her pretty, curly red hair was pinned up in a messy bun, and her sweet eyes were lined. Her makeup had been rubbed off, and she smelled like onions and beef fat. It wasn't necessarily the worst smell for a restaurant (although it sure wasn't the most attractive), but it sucked rocks as a perfume.

"Hi Sweetie," Mom said with a soft smile as I walked into the living room. She kissed me on the forehead and I curled up on the cushion next to her. She ran her fingers through my brown hair, smoothing it out. "How was class?"

I shrugged. "It was class. Nothing more, nothing less."

Mom pressed her lips together sadly. "I know you'd rather be attending business school out in LA, but even with your scholarship, we can't – "

"Afford it," I finished for her. "Yeah Mom, I know. We've been all but broke ever since Kendall abandoned us four years ago."

"He didn't abandon us!" Mom protested. "He just…left…and very rarely sends money…and never contacts us…"

"Speaking of, some kids in my history class were talking about the game last night," I told Mom. "The Wilders won, thanks to Kendall."

Mom smiled in pride. "Good for him. Maybe I'll give him a call and congratulate him."

"If he hasn't changed his phone number again," I grumbled. "I swear, he's worse than James used to…"

I broke off. I hadn't spoken James's name out loud for nearly three years.

There was a brief silence, and then Mom said, "Kendall has tons of fans, thanks to both Big Time Rush and the Minnesota Wild. Of course he'll need to change his number every few months."

That was Mom's excuse for why every time we tried to call Kendall we got a "the number you have dialed is no longer available" on the other end of the line. I for one would love to believe Mom, but I don't think she even believes that herself. Besides, I've seen too much at this point to believe the best of my brother. Don't get me wrong – I love him dearly. But I also hate him. Love and hate are never meant to be mixed, but yet, here they are. It would be easier if I only hated him, but he's my brother and for the first sixteen years of my life, he protected me. And then he just upped and abandoned Mom when Big Time Rush fell apart. Mom swears he had his reasons, but she won't tell me what they are. The last thing Kendall said to me was: "One day I'll tell you why I'm no longer talking to Mom, but until then, I don't want anything to do with her. You'll find out why when you're older."

Well, I'm older now, and I haven't heard anything from him since he left to join the Minnesota Wild. So the excuse he gave me was probably just bullshit, and he didn't want to admit that he was too selfish to actually care about Mom and me. Which is why I was currently balancing school with work, driving a crappy car, and praying every day that one of these days, I would get out of Chasm Lake, Minnesota.

I glanced at the clock over the mantelpiece. "I should go finish my homework, I have to leave in three hours for work."

The corners of Mom's mouths dropped down into a sad grimace. "Is it really going to take you three hours?" she asked pleadingly.

"Probably not," I told her, "but if it does, then it's good to have that extra time. When I'm finished, I'll come and hang out with you."

Mom nodded. "All right. I was just going to heat up a couple of Lean Cuisine meals for dinner, is that okay with you?"

Mom's culinary skills have seriously gone down the drain ever since Kendall left. Lean Cuisine TV dinners usually serves as our evening meals, unless she's picked up something from work, although sometimes she'll splurge for pizza or Chinese food when she needs a serious pick-me-up.

I hugged Mom and then got up off the couch, and walked back to my room where I had left the sadistic algebra problem. After plenty of teeth grinding and hair pulling, I figured it out, and continued on to the next one. It was nearly an hour later when I finished the worksheet, and my brain felt like it was on the verge of collapsing.

I was just pulling my Economic textbook towards me so that I could get some of the reading done, when my Pantech Breeze II phone lit up and vibrated against the surface of my desk: 1 New Message.

Well, I could use the break from schoolwork.

I snatched my phone up and flipped it open so that I could read the text. I was expecting to see a message from one of my friends from school, or maybe from work, telling me that they were going to be needing me a little earlier. What I didn't expect to see was a blocked number and four more messages popping up in my conversation box, so that it was just one super long text message:

_**So, Katie Knight, how're you doing? Enjoying Chasm Lake, MN? Enjoying Chasm Lake Community College, and Gracie's Diner? Tsk, tsk, tsk, whatever happened to you darling? You were going to be a big – BIG – talent agent, and instead…well, let's face it, there you are right now, sitting in your bedroom while you do your homework like the good little girl that we both know you're not. How cuh-yoot! So babe, creeped out yet? You should be. I would be if someone was watching my every move. Stay tuned, something interesting should be happening soon. That is what you want, right? Something interesting. In that case, you'll love this. ;) –The Replacement. P.S – talked to James Diamond lately?**_

I just gaped at the phone in my hand. Who the hell was The Replacement, why was their number blocked, why were they spying on me, what did they want, and what business was if of theirs whether or not they had talked to James recently?

And then it hit me –

I leapt to my feet and rushed to my window. I couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean anything. Our house is one level, and my bedroom blinds were cracked open, meaning that anyone could have been peeking in without me realizing. But why did they know so much about my life? And what did they mean by "something interesting should be happening soon"? What the hell did that mean? Was that a hint that someone was going to throw a hand grenade through our living room window, or that I was just going to get a late birthday card from some long-lost relative? And why was James even mentioned? Did they know – ? No, how could they? Only James and I shared that particular secret, and that's the way it was going to stay.

I wasn't sure if the text would go through, but I knew I had to try something – I mean, who the hell was this person?

I quickly typed in: _**Who the fuck do you think you are, spying on me like some insane stalker? And what the hell do you mean "something interesting should be happening soon"? And why is it any business of YOURS if I've talked to James recently anyway? Why should it matter to YOU?**_

And I hit _send_.

Possibly not the smartest move I could have made. Calling someone an "insane stalker" usually pisses them off, but I was just plain angry, and I was running off of adrenaline. Maybe if the fear had hit me, I would have figured out that sending that text was stupid, but it was like the fear was frozen.

I somehow managed to finish the reading for Economics and filled out the worksheet for my U.S History 102 class. It was nearly 7:00 when I slipped the worksheet into my backpack.

I stood up and pressed my hands to my lower back, stretching out my spine, before walking out to the kitchen, where Mom was standing in front of the oven, counting the seconds until our dinner was finished cooking.

"Hi sweetie, did you finish your homework?" she asked, sounding much more cheerful than she had earlier.

"Yeah," I replied. "But man, algebra should be illegal."

Mom laughed. "I completely agree."

"So which Lean Cuisine dinners are we having?" I asked, trying to peer into the oven.

"The chicken and broccoli pasta," Mom answered. "And I'm heating corn up in the microwave." She nodded to said appliance, which, sure enough, was humming loudly as the timer counted down.

"Sounds good," I agreed blankly, my mind flashing back to the text I had received. I had never heard back from _The Replacement_, whoever the hell they were, and frankly, I didn't care. That text was creepy enough without a follow-up one, and I could only hope I never heard back from The Replacement again. And what kind of name was The Replacement anyway? That was just a bizarre name anyway.

The oven timer went off, and a split second later, the microwave beeped. Mom and I pulled our dinner out of the two ovens, and sat down at the table with plates, forks, and napkins.

I quickly ate, and then leapt up to change out of my t-shirt and hoodie and into the Gracie's Diner t-shirt that all employees were required to wear, and covered it with a sweatshirt. I pulled my long brown hair up in a ponytail, slipped on another layer of makeup, and grabbed my purse.

Mom was still in the kitchen, sitting at the table, sorting through the mail, so I went in to say goodbye to her.

She was holding a letter, her eyes wide.

"Mom?" I touched her shoulder and she nearly tumbled out of her seat.

"Oh! Katie! You nearly scared me half to death, honey!"

"Sorry," I apologized. "What're you reading?"

"Just…nothing. A tax notice."

"Oh, sounds pleasant. Anyway, I'm leaving now, so I'll see you tomorrow."

Mom nodded, face still very pale as I kissed her forehead.

"I love you, Katie."

"Love you too, Mom," I replied with a smile before I headed back outside. I opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat. I slipped the key into the ignition and turned, hearing the engine roll over startlingly loud. I rolled my window down a tiny bit, and a breeze drifted in, and that's when I saw it: A folded piece of white copy paper on the passenger's seat.

With shaking fingers, I reached over and gingerly picked the paper up. There was a newspaper clipping attached to it with a paper clip, with the headline: _**Minnesota Wild Leads In Hockey Playoffs – Center Kendall Knight Scores Winning Goal At Tuesday Night's Game**_.

Underneath the headline was the article, and a blown up picture of Kendall in full hockey gear, his hockey mask up so that his face was shown. He was grinning proudly while his teammates surrounded him, patting him on the back. He looked happy, and why shouldn't he? He had a fantastic career as a hockey player, playing for his all-time favorite team. No doubt he had a fabulous life, filled with girls and cars and mansions. Lucky him.

I flipped back to the regular paper, and my stomach rolled over. The note was handwritten, and scrawled in large letters across the paper: _**How does it feel to be Kendall Knight's sister? Too bad he abandoned you and your mom. But did he really abandon you? Aren't you even a tiny bit curious about why he left? Even just a little bit? I'm sure he had his reasons. Don't worry, little one, before long they'll be revealed to you. –The Replacement.**_

I crumpled up the papers and stuffed them in my glove compartment. "You don't know anything," I muttered. "And how the hell did you get into my car?"

Someone must've picked the lock. There were plenty of people around here who never bothered to lock their cars or their houses, but after living six years in Minnesota, some habits were permanently instilled in me. I always locked the door, even if I was just leaving the car for five minutes. There was no way they could have gotten in if they didn't happen to have a lock-picking set on them.

"What's next?" I muttered. "A magazine interview with James? An article on Carlos's new reality show? Maybe something in Doctor's Digest on Logan? Screw you, whoever you are."

And with those words, I slammed the gears into reverse and backed out of the driveway.

People are usually at home and have finished dinner by 7:30 – in Chasm Lake, it's practically a crime not to follow that timeline – so the traffic was pretty mild. I navigated easily through my hometown, and reached the restaurant by a quarter to 8.

I parked in the designated employee parking area, and crawled out of the car, double and triple checking to make sure that all of the car doors were locked, before walking into the diner through the backdoor.

I made my way to the employee locker room, where I punched in, and pulled my sweatshirt off. I stuffed it in my cubbyhole, and was about to put my purse in there too, when I felt it vibrate. My phone.

I licked my lips, praying that it wasn't what I thought it was, but with the way my stomach was clenching and the way my palms were suddenly sweating, it had to be...

With a deep breath, I opened my purse and fished my phone out. I flipped my phone open and groaned: The Replacement had texted me back:

_**Oh, Katie honey, is that was you think, that I'm an "insane stalker"? Oh, baby, I may be a stalker, and perhaps a little bit on the edge of crazy, but not insane and stalker together! Quite honestly, I'm insulted. As for why your business is my business? It isn't. But I'm making it my business. Does that answer your question? What do I mean when I say something is going to be happening very soon? Well, my dear girl, you'll find out very *soon*, now won't you? ;) And as for James Diamond? Can't you guess? Or have you forgotten your history with him? I certainly hope not, he was such an important part of your life, now wasn't he? You know what I mean by that, so put that brain to work! But don't worry, I'm keeping watch on him. You know, he doesn't seem quite as happy as he used to…I wonder if he's missing you? Btw, how did you like the newspaper article about your brother? Made him sound like a hero, didn't it? Like superman? Of course, you know better than anyone that he's more The Joker than anything else. Why else would he have abandoned you? So, will these answers satisfy you? I doubt it – you're never satisfied, now are you, Katie Knight? Well, nevertheless, these will have to do for now. You'll find out soon enough ;) Until then. **_

–_**The Replacement.**_

So that was that. I stared at the text. James…The Replacement was watching James. He didn't seem very happy…but missing me? Hah! I doubt it. I couldn't flatter myself even considering that idea. I heard rumors about James every few weeks, and there were always pictures of him with some bimbo on his arm popping up on the internet. Believe me, he wasn't missing me. He probably didn't even remember my name. Why would he? I was sixteen and he was nineteen when he last saw me.

I shook my head, and this time didn't even bother replying to the text(s). I just shoved my phone into my purse and headed out into the main part of the restaurant.

It was nearly 12:30 when I finally walked in through the front door. My entire body felt sore and tired from the sixteen hour day, and all I wanted to do was drag myself into my room and collapse on my bed for the next six hours. Tomorrow night I would catch up on my sleep…

One of the lights was still on in the living room, and Mom was sitting on the couch, twisting her hands around. She looked up, startled, when I walked in through the front door.

"Oh, good, Katie, you're home," she said, sounding relieved.

"Really? I am? Great. I thought I was sleepwalking in the diner. Well, if I'm home, I'm going to bed. 'Night."

"Katie, wait."

There was an urgency in her voice that I had never heard before, and it was enough to make me stop in mid-step and turn towards her.

"Mom?"

"Katie, come sit down with me." She patted the cushion next to her, and without really thinking, I crossed the room and sank down onto the couch beside her.

"What is it, Mom?"

"Do you remember that letter I was reading when you left?"

"Yeah, the tax notice. Oh no! Mom, we're not losing the house, are we, because if we are – !"

"No, no, no, nothing like that," Mom said hurriedly.

"Oh, okay, then what? Did we forget to pay our bills?"

"No…Katie, it wasn't a tax notice."

"Then what was it?"

"It was a…well…an invitation of sorts…from someone who I've never met…well, see for yourself." She pulled a folded-up piece of paper from the pocket of her bathrobe and handed it to me.

The paper was simple, and the invitation, if you could even call it that, was typed out in elegant print:

_**Dear Jennifer and Katherine Knight,**_

_**You will not know who I am, but I can assure you, I know exactly who you are. I have been keeping tabs on you both for eight years, and have wanted to meet you for that lengthy period of time. And now I have been granted the opportunity to invite you on a cruise on the DLS Serpent, a cruise ship that my partner and I recently bought.**_

_**The DLS-S will depart from Santa Monica Pier on Friday, May 2**__**nd**__**, at 2 PM. Boarding begins at 12 PM. The DLS-S will sail around a specified route and will return on May 16**__**th**__** at the previously named pier. Your tickets are already bought and paid for, you just need to give your name to the boarding officer when you get on the ship. All expenses are paid for. Enclosed in the envelope are two airplane tickets for the 3:30 PM flight out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Thursday. You will be staying in the Motel 6 on Dalton Drive in Los Angeles – accommodations have already been arranged. At LAX, you will also find a car that has been rented out in your name, Jennifer.**_

_**Jennifer, this is a message directly to you: If you decide against this cruise, I am warning you, your beautiful daughter and your handsome son – congrats on him scoring the winning goal for the Minnesota Wild, by the way! You must be so proud! I bet you would tell him if he would answer his phone – will be in danger – all of the boys will. I am watching you, and I can very easily arrange an…accident. I do not advise you to ignore this warning or threat, whichever you prefer. And the threat will be activated if you choose to involve the police.**_

_**Keep all of this in mind when you make your decision. I hope you make the right one.**_

_**Good luck and I hope to see you soon!**_

_**-The Replacement**_

"Mom…" I whispered. "Mom…we can't…This is…this is ridiculous!"

Mom didn't say anything: She just held up two plane tickets.

"Mom!"

"You read the letter," Mom said softly. "You kids are all in danger. This person…they knew that Kendall won't pick up his phone when we call."

"That doesn't mean squat!" I cried.

"It means enough. We're going. I won't risk your life, or Kendall's, or James's, Logan's, or Carlos's. Your are all too valuable to me."

"But we don't…we don't even know what the point of the cruise is!" I insisted. "For all we know, the ship will be loaded with explosives, or – or – the plain will come crashing down. Mom, it's a trap, it's so obvious…_Look_!"

I yanked my phone out and showed her the texts that I had received earlier.

"And this – this person managed to get into my car, they left a note with a newspaper clipping about Kendall's big win from last night, on the front passenger seat. Mom…"

Mom just pursed her lips stubbornly. "That's even more reason. This person knows more about us than we could have ever guessed or thought. For all we know, they're listening and watching right now."

"Mom…"

"We're going to do this. I'm going to call your school and let them know that you won't be able to finish the spring quarter classes. Perhaps I can get a slight refund. You go and try to get a couple of hours of sleep, and then we'll pack. We're leaving at ten AM."

"Mom…"

"That's my final decision."

"But – "

"Katie, please don't argue with me on this. I love you, I love all of you kids, and I'm doing this for you. Please don't fight me. We'll be okay, I promise honey, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Good. Now go and sleep, I'll wake you in a couple of hours. Good night baby girl."

"'Night Mom."

Mom reached for the landline so that she could call the college, and I got to my feet. I managed to get into my room without passing out, and I changed out of my work clothes into pajama bottoms and a soft cotton t-shirt that had been washed so many times that the sky blue of the material had faded into a pale blue.

I brushed my teeth and brushed out my hair, and was just pulling the covers back so that I could climb into bed when my phone lit up with a new text message. And I knew exactly who had sent it. With a deep breath, I reached over and flipped my phone open, opening the text:

_**See K-squared? That wasn't long to wait at all! See where a little patience can get you? On a flight out to LA for a 2 week cruise! Are you excited? I hope so, because I'm excited! Believe me, I've got so much planned for you, it's going to be so much fun – for me, that is. ;) You're right to be cautious, but your mom made the right decision; it would be beyond foolish to ignore my friendly invitation. But don't worry, you'll be getting what you deserve…Btw, what do you think of the nickname "K-squared"? James used to call you that, didn't he? Ahhhh, memories, memories. Gotta love 'em. –The Replacement.**_

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><p><em><strong>Sorry if Katie seems a little bit...bitter...okay, I'm not sorry. She's supposed to be bitter, she's been seriously hurt by almost everyone important in her life.<strong>_

**_So, do explanations about what happened to the band seem vague? If they do, then good! That's the idea! Usually I like to explain things point blank and not beat around the bush, but somehow, I don't see that happening in this story._**

**_What'd you guys think of "The Replacement"? Did I make them creepy enough, or are they just a little...weird?_**

**_So...let's talk reviews. I love reviews. What writer doesn't? Reviews are practically our life source. You cut them off, and we go into comas *nodds seriously*. So...please review? *Employs huge puppy-dog eyes on unsuspecting readers*._**


	2. Chapter 2 The Invitation Part 2

_**Here you go...chapter 2 and part 2 of the introduction, all rolled into one.**_

_**Disclaimer: Do I own Big Time Rush? ! That is the funniest thing I've heard all day! Nope, don't own Big Time Rush, and honestly, I can't afford to. Ahhh, you joker you...**_

_**Thank you for the reviews and the alerts and favorites! They mean so much, and I'm so happy to hear that you guys are interested in this story!**_

_**So...let's see what James is up to now...**_

**_Enjoy the chapter!_**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 – The Invitation Part 2<strong>

**(Wednesday, April 30****th****)**

**James's POV**

I was so bored. I hate album release parties. They're filled with CEOs and bosses and people in suits who I've never met and don't have much interest in meeting anyway.

The only good thing about this particular party was that: A) It was for me, and B) The food. Oh, and C) The dancers who Gustavo had hired for entertainment, and were clad in almost nothing. But honestly, they weren't worth much. Not to me anyway.

"Ah, there he is!" Griffin shouted as he approached me, clapping me on the shoulder with one hand and clutching a glass of wine in the other. "The young pop star who will be making me even more money than he already has!"

His daughter, Mercedes, smiled at me. "Congratulations on the single, by the way," she said with a flip of her long, curly blond hair. "Number one on iTunes, Amazon, and on the top forty, and that's just here in the United States!"

I shrugged modestly. "Thanks Mercedes, but it's not really a big deal. It's pure luck."

Griffin laughed. "Well, in that case, James, you must've caught a leprechaun and captured his pot of gold, because you've been bringing in nothing _but_ luck!"

He patted my shoulder again and then walked away to go help himself to some of the fancy appetizers who's names I couldn't even begin to pronounce.

Mercedes grinned at me. "He thinks you're wonderful, and so do I." She took a step towards me, her blue eyes clouded slightly with the wine.

"Thanks again Mercedes," I said as I stepped back.

Another problem with parties like this one: Mercedes would drink a little too much wine, and would completely forget her policy about not dating guys who are prettier than her.

As much as I like Mercedes when she's sober, and as gorgeous as she is, I could never bring myself to really consider the possibility of sleeping with her. Maybe I would've eight years ago, but I wouldn't now. Besides, she's the boss's daughter. That's just wrong.

"Tell you what," Mercedes began again, her voice low and seductive, "why don't we take this conversation somewhere a _little more private_?" She slid the strap of her royal blue cocktail dress off of her shoulder suggestively and bit her lower lip, looking up at me from under her eyelids.

Ah, what the hell.

We had both had a little too much wine, and this party was completely boring anyway. What could it hurt?

I could answer that, but I wasn't going to. Instead, I just returned her seductive smile.

"That sounds perfect."

Mercedes flashed me a wider grin and spun around, flouncing away. She glanced over her shoulder as if to say, _Well? Are you coming?_

I hurried after her, hoping no one noticed our escape. She led me up a flight of stairs to an empty bedroom. We were in Gustavo's mansion, and he had about two million guest rooms. There was no way he was going to care about this one.

I closed the door behind me, and Mercedes launched herself at me, smashing her mouth to mine so hard that I felt our teeth clack together, but I ignored the jarring sensation. Her fingers were already fumbling with the buttons of my dress shirt and I was working on the zipper of her dress.

She ripped my shirt open and I shrugged out of it, just before I got her dress's zipper down. She stepped out of her dress and stood there, in just her strapless bra and thong. "I've always wanted to hook up with a famous pop star," she mumbled thickly as she reached for my mouth again. "And I've always wondered what you would be like, with a body and a voice like yours."

"Well, you're about to find out," I burbled back as I gently bit against her collarbone. She gasped, half from pain, half from pleasure.

"Ohhhh…James…"

I closed my eyes, pretending that it was Katie who was gripping my hair (probably messing it up – we would have words about that later) as I nipped along her neck and shoulder, that it was Katie who was moaning out my name.

I breathed through my mouth, refusing to inhale through my nose, because I knew if I did, I would smell Mercedes' Chanel perfume and the entire illusion would come crashing down around me.

And that's when my phone vibrated, completely ruining the moment.

I pulled away from her and made an apologetic face as she groaned and sauntered away, throwing herself on the king size bed.

"Sorry, just a second," I told her as I yanked my iPhone out of my pants' pocket to check the text message. What the fuck?

_**So James, congratulations! This must be such a proud night for you! You're about to bang the boss's daughter! You must be so thrilled! But dear oh dear, what would Katie say if she could see you now? Imagine those huge brown eyes of hers, so trusting, so innocent…Talk about painful. And she trusted you that night. Do you remember that night? I'm sure she does. I'm sure that night still haunts her. In fact, she probably considers it to be the biggest mistake of her life. But that wasn't my point. But congratulations on the album and your latest single! Number one in five countries! Your dream has come true…well, almost, anyway. And besides, it's all doubtlessly soured by this tedious party! But don't worry, your night is about to get a little more interesting (besides screwing Mercedes Griffin). You'll see what I mean soon. – The Replacement**_

Who the hell was The Replacement, and what did they want with me? And why did they have to bring Katie up? And "that night"…did that mean they knew…? Oh God…

And that's when my phone rang. I fumbled to answer it.

"Hello?"

"James, didn't you check your Caller ID? This is Kelly! A letter just arrived for you, it looks like an invitation. The delivery man said that it was marked _urgent_, so you better get your ass down here and open it!"

"Okay, I'll be down in a moment," I said. I hung up and turned back to Mercedes, who was still lying on the bed. "I'm sorry, they need me downstairs. I've gotta go."

Mercedes let out a heavy sigh. "Whatever."

I reached for my shirt and pulled it back on. "Are you coming?"

"Nope, I'm going to stay up here for awhile. Maybe I'll call Guitar Dude or someone to hang out with."

I rolled my eyes. She went through guys the same way I used to go through girls. I was probably the only guy at the Palmwoods who she hadn't had as a boyfriend at one point.

"Have fun," I called to her as I left the room.

"Oh, I will."

It was sad – I didn't even know if she was upset with me leaving, or if she simply didn't care. She was one of the only friends who I still had who I knew actually cared about me, but she was also a self-proclaimed slut, and she wasn't overly picky about who she slept with – especially when she was drunk. When she was younger, when we first met, she was a complete bitch – not that I cared. She was hot, and that was enough for me. But eventually Griffin started paying more attention to her, which was all she really wanted in the first place, and, well, she grew up. She's a lot nicer now than she used to be, although she definitely still has her Head-Bitch moments.

I walked down the stairs and reached the ballroom where the party was. Kelly and Gustavo were waiting for me, Kelly holding out an envelope. Gustavo was clutching an envelope himself, and the producer and the assistant were both frowning in confusion.

I took the envelope from Kelly wordlessly and examined it. It was plain and white with no return address. Well, that was interesting…I flashed back to the text I had gotten seconds before Kelly had called me; it had been a blocked number. And whoever had texted me had said that things were about to get very interesting…Could this be what they meant?

On the back was my name, Gustavo's address, and _**Cordially Invited**_ stamped under the state-part of the address. Okay then…

"We got one too," Gustavo added, holding up his envelope. It had both his and Kelly's names on it, but it was still his address, with the same stamp underneath, at the very bottom.

"It's probably just an invitation to join some church group or something," I said with an eye roll.

"Gustavo and I would have each gotten our own invitation then," Kelly pointed out, "and yours and mine would have _never_ been addressed to Gustavo's mansion."

"True," I conceded. "All right, then I guess I better open this thing up."

I gingerly tugged the envelope open, as if expecting it to be laden with a bomb, and I guess I kind of was, after that mysterious text.

The flap came free, and no bomb exploded. Well, that was uplifting.

I pulled the letter out of the envelope and flipped it open. My mouth dropped as I read it:

_**Dear James Diamond,**_

_**You will not know who I am, but I can assure you, I know exactly who you are. I have been keeping tabs on you for eight years, and have wanted to meet you for that lengthy period of time. And now I have been granted the opportunity to invite you on a cruise on the DLS Serpent, a cruise ship that my partner and I recently bought.**_

_**The DLS-S will depart from Santa Monica Pier on Friday, May 2**__**nd**__**, at 2 PM. Boarding begins at 12 PM. The DLS-S will sail around a specified route and will return on May 16**__**th**__** at the previously named pier. Your ticket has already been bought and paid for, you just need to give your name to the boarding officer when you get on the ship. All expenses are paid for as well.**_

_**If you decide against this cruise, I am warning you, Katie Knight will be in danger. I am watching you, and I can very easily arrange an…accident for her, since I have been keeping my eye on her as well. I do not advise you to ignore this warning or threat, whichever you prefer. And the threat will be activated if you choose to involve the police.**_

_**Keep all of this in mind when you make your decision. I hope you make the right one.**_

_**Good luck and I hope to see you soon!**_

_**-The Replacement**_

I stared at the letter. Who. The. Hell was The Replacement, and who the fuck did they think they were, threatening Katie and using her against me? What sort of cruise was this anyway? It had to be some sort of set-up, if I was getting blackmailed into taking it. And besides, how did I know this – _person_, if they could even be called that – had access to Katie? They were probably just bluffing, hoping to scare me. They probably didn't even know what she looked like. It was probably just some oddly smart paparazzi scam to get me onto a cruise ship full of strippers so that they could take pictures and claim that my morals were crumbling to the ground. Well. I wasn't going to do it.

"Do you think they're serious?" Kelly whispered to Gustavo, and I turned towards them. They were huddled together, reading the letter that they had received themselves. Their faces were pale and their eyes were wide.

"How – how can they be?" Gustavo muttered back. "How can they possibly get to the Dogs and Katie?"

My head snapped up. "You've been invited on a – " I checked the letter – "a cruise on the DLS-S ship too? What kind of name is that anyway? _DLS-S_?"

Gustavo snorted. "The same kind of name as _The Replacement_. This person is FUCKED UP in the brain, that's all I can say. You're under heavy guard twenty-four/seven, Kendall and Katie are both under the protection of a bunch of insane dudes with hockey sticks, Carlos has a small army of bodyguards, and Logan is protected by whatever security they give to young doctors. There's no way _The Replacement_ can get to any of you."

"Katie's under the protection of the hockey team," I said, gripping the letter even harder.

Gustavo's beady eyes snapped on me. "She was the one who was threatened in your letter?"

"I – yeah."

"Why?" Kelly asked, eyebrows slanting in confusion. "I mean, I know she's Kendall's little sister, but…why her?"

"She's special to me," I said hollowly. "She always has been."

Kelly nodded, although she still didn't look like she completely believed me.

I crumpled the letter into a ball in my hand. "Look, I'm gonna go. I'm tired, and to be completely honest, Gustavo, this party is boring. Tell Mercedes I'm sorry for what happened – I'd kind of like to know she'll speak to me again. See you both later."

And I hurried off with Gustavo yelling after me, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MERCEDES?"

Thankfully, nothing.

I chuckled to myself as I paused at the doors to his mansion and turned around to flash him a sly grin, just to get under his skin. Kendall used to be so good at driving Gustavo nuts…Damn, I missed him just as much as I missed Katie.

After Big Time Rush broke up, Kendall, Katie, and Mrs. Knight moved back to Minnesota, and the next thing I knew, Kendall was being announced as the new center for the Minnesota Wild. Logan was in medical school, and according to reports (Griffin and Gustavo still kept tabs on him, for "safety purposes") he graduated in record time, and is now working at Minneapolis General Hospital. Carlos turned his love of stunts into a reality TV show. It's a bit like Fear Factor, where people basically just do stupid things that they're afraid of. Of course, they're always wearing protective gear and stuff, but I've seen a couple of episodes of it and its flipping crazy. I would not want to go on it. But Carlos is a fantastic host, and he's crazy and energetic enough himself to get the contestants pumped for their potential scars (both physical and mental).

And then there was me. I had been the only one out of us four Big Time Rush boys to actually want to become a singer, so I signed contract with Gustavo to continue on as a solo artist. I released an album nine months after the band split up, and I released a second album a year later. This third album was going to drop in three weeks, and I was proud of it. Each record felt more and more honest than the last. The first one sounded like the main purpose was to be played at a party, but the second one had a lot more depth. Plus, I switched from dance pop back to my roots as a pop/rock artist, with a little R&B thrown in on some songs. This third one, though, had me opening up about stuff that had happened before Big Time Rush split up – all a bit shadowed, of course, because I really didn't want to point fingers or go into detail about some stuff, such as the thing with Katie, how I had betrayed her; we all had our problems, and I guess they're the main reason why we went our separate ways.

The sad part though is that I haven't seen any of them since the morning the Knights left for the airport. Logan had flown out the night of the last big fight, and Carlos left the same morning as Kendall, Katie, and Mrs. Knight. Reports said that Logan had had absolutely no contact with any of them either, and when asked about Big Time Rush in interviews, Carlos would just blow the questions off. Kendall had made it very clear in one infamous interview that no one was ever to ask him about what had happened to tear us apart, and as far as he was concerned, Big Time Rush had been a part of someone else's life, someone else's life that wasn't his.

In-between recording songs, I had begun an acting career – I had been in two action movies to date. I was also a model for Cuda, something that I had wanted since I had first discovered expensive hygiene. Girls flocked to me, always willing, and I could afford pretty much anything. Life was good…except that I missed my friends, Katie, and Mrs. Knight.

I headed out to where my car was parked – a 2011 red Mustang – and slid in. I started up the ignition and pulled out of the driveway and onto the main street. I drove the fifteen minutes back to my house – a mansion really – and parked in the driveway. I headed into the dark house, dropping my car keys on the small table in the entrance hall, and proceeded upstairs to my bedroom. My entire house was furnished in black, white, and chrome, and my bedroom was no different. The bed was also king size, although lately there really hadn't been much point in having such a large bed, and covered in a black and white checkered bedspread with matching pillows. There was a black leather couch up against one wall, and a 42 inch flat screen TV (I had a 102 inch plasma TV downstairs).

I sighed as I began to unbutton my shirt. The last half hour had been insane, and the entire night had been draining. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and stay there for the next week or so. That sounded like a pretty good idea…

I glanced at the digital clock on my nightstand (black, of course) and saw that it was 1:05 in the morning. Not as late as it could have been, but that didn't change the fact that I was exhausted.

I had just gotten my shirt completely unbuttoned and was about to shrug it off when a small stack of glossy paper on my bedspread caught my eye. I snatched the papers up and my stomach flipped over and over about twenty times: The top one was a picture of Katie. It was the style of an old Polaroid picture, trimmed in blank white. It didn't look like she was posing for the picture, it was like the pictures of celebrities that showed up in tabloid magazines. Only she wasn't a celebrity…

She was leaving what looked like one of the buildings on the community college campus in Chasm Lake...It was windy, and her hair was blowing slightly. Her face was turned slightly away from the camera, and she was squinting in the sunlight.

The next picture was of her at…was that her car? It was an old Honda Civic, really crappy looking. What the hell? Why hadn't Kendall bought her a new one? He could definitely afford it, if the rumors of the Minnesota Wild's big win last night were true…

Katie was sticking her key into the driver door's lock, looking ahead, eyes not completely focused, her hair still blowing around slightly.

The third picture was of her at the front door of…her old house? She was unlocking the door, and this time the photographer only got her back, but it was still definitely her.

The fourth and final picture was the one that scared me the worst. She was in her bedroom, at her desk. The angle wasn't the best, and I had the disturbing feeling that the photographer had taken the picture through her bedroom window. Someone had gotten that close to her haven, someone had invaded her privacy that much…The thought made me want to throw something at my TV.

At the top of the picture was…today's – well, yesterday's – date, and underneath the picture were scribbled words: _**I had a feeling you would need some convincing, and I was right, now wasn't I? But keep in mind, Diamond, I can get to little Miss Katie very easily, just as easily as I can get to you. I got into her car, and left a newspaper clipping about Kendall Knight's victory on her passenger seat. What? You thought that she and Jennifer Knight were living with Kendall? They haven't seen him in person for over three years! So no, Diamond, she isn't safe, and she never was, and neither are you, although your boss seems to need some convincing, now doesn't he? Keep in mind, Diamond, I could get into your house, and I could get into Katie's car. I hope you've changed your mind, because it would be such a shame to hurt Katie's pretty face. –The Replacement.**_

I was shaking. How…why…what…?

I had to get in touch with Gustavo. He needed to know about this.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, but discovered that the signal was jammed. What the hell? I had never had problems with cell phone service before…unless someone was electronically jamming the signal…Shit.

I yanked my shirt back on and raced back downstairs with the pictures in hand. I snatched my keys up, and ran outside, remembering long enough to lock my door (not that there was much point if The Replacement could get inside), and climbed back into my car, and started the ignition.

I drove like a maniac on sugar back to Gustavo's mansion. Just as I pulled into the driveway, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket…the signal wasn't blocked anymore?

I ripped it out and saw that I had a new message:_** So you've figured out the danger, huh? Well, your boss obviously hasn't. Which is why if you're not out of that car in thirty seconds flat, you're going to go up in flames with it. –The Replacement.**_

I stared at the message, trying to comprehend what they meant…

…And then it hit me…

I snatched up the pictures, threw myself out of the car, and made a mad dash for Gustavo's house, pounding furiously on the door, completely forgetting that it was probably unlocked.

The door swung open to reveal Gustavo, Kelly, Griffin, and Mercedes, just as there was a BOOM…and my beloved Mustang exploded.

The explosion knocked me off of my feet, and I crumbled to the ground with a yell, hand raised in front of my face to block the heat.

I watched, eyes wide with absolutely no comprehension, as my car burned slowly, the metal crackling as it melted.

"Oh my God," I heard Kelly murmur as she knelt beside me.

"James, what happened?" Mercedes asked, sounding absolutely horrified as she kneeled down on my other side, hand on my shoulder.

All I could do was shake my head wordlessly.

Had someone just tried to kill me?

"The Replacement?" Griffin asked softly, and we all looked up at him.

"What's The Replacement?" Mercedes asked worriedly.

"Someone who's blackmailing all four of us," Gustavo answered, sounded shaken.

I looked up at him. Wait…Griffin?

"I got a letter too, a little while ago," Griffin answered my silent question. "I'm being threatened onto the DLS-S cruise ship."

Oh God. Griffin too?

"Mercedes, take James upstairs and get him some chamomile tea to help calm him down, he looks pretty shaken," Kelly said softly.

Mercedes nodded without a word and gripped my arm. With Gustavo's help, she managed to drag me up onto my feet. "Come on," she murmured, arm around my waist.

Everything was blurry, nothing was in focus, and I felt dizzy, as if I had been spinning in circles for the past five minutes, instead of watching my car blow up and just barely escaping with my life.

Mercedes led me through the entrance hall and upstairs, back to the bedroom we had been in earlier.

"Here," she said softly, gently pushing me down into a sitting position on the bed. "I'll go get you that tea. I'll be back in a little while."

My head was still spinning, and I could feel bile rising in my throat…I managed to stumble to my feet, and, leaning against the wall, managed to feel my way to the bathroom. I somehow managed to get the toilet lid up, and collapsed to my knees, a half second before everything that I had ate and drank earlier decided to give an encore performance.

I could feel my stomach lurching, my muscles contracting painfully with each round of vomiting. My throat burned, my head ached, and sweat dripped into my already bleary eyes.

I don't know how long I knelt there in front of the toilet, vomiting my guts out, but I'm guessing it was awhile, because the next thing I knew, someone was kneeling down beside me, wiping my forehead off with a cold washcloth.

"Oh James…" That wasn't Mercedes' voice…

My vision was still hazy, but I could make out a familiar girl with long, straight blonde hair, brown eyes, and a slim figure: Jo Taylor. What was she doing back? As far as I knew, she hadn't been in the United States since we were seventeen.

"Jo…" I managed to get out. My voice sounded horrible, hoarse and raspy.

"I'm here, James, I'm here." She swiped the washcloth over my cheeks. I could feel the water dripping down my face, pleasantly refreshing, yet nauseatingly cold at the same time.

"Oh...fu – " before I could get the entire cussword out, I was retching into the toilet once again. This time was weaker and didn't hurt quite as bad as it had, and I knew I was close to being done.

I leaned back on my heels and Jo wiped my face again. My vision began to un-blur itself, and I could make out her scared, yet sympathetic expression.

"How do you feel?" she asked quietly.

"Crappy," I answered. "But I'll live…I think."

She smiled weakly. "Are you – are you done?"

I nodded. "I think so…The dizziness is starting to fade."

She didn't ask what I meant, instead she just turned her head and called, "Camille, could you help me in here?"

"Camille's here too?" I mumbled out.

"Yeah, we both got _invitations_ from The Replacement too, and they said we could find you and Gustavo and Kelly and Griffin here. We just didn't think we'd find the remains of your burnt car here as well."

Camille walked into the room, her dark hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just help me help him up? He should probably rinse out his mouth and brush his teeth, and since this is a guest room, there's probably a toothbrush and toothpaste in one of the drawers."

Camille nodded and she and Jo together lifted me to my feet. "Mercedes got back with the tea, but she won't come in – she said the smell of vomit makes her nauseous."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Well, it doesn't do much for my stomach either, but you don't see me cowering in the next room like a five-year-old girl."

Camille gave her a reproachful look, before letting me go so that she could begin searching through the drawers underneath the sink. She quickly came up with some small paper cups, a toothbrush, and a tube of Colgate toothpaste.

With Jo's help, I managed to get over to the sink. I turned the faucet on and bent over, rinsing my mouth out with icy cold water until the worst of the burning sensation was gone. I readied the toothbrush and slid some toothpaste on the bristles before sticking it in my mouth. I took my time, trying to hit the back corners of my mouth, doing my best to get every little chunk of vomit out of my gums, just wanting the taste gone.

I finally finished, and spat and rinsed another five times before wiping my mouth with a towel. Jo and Camille gripped my arms tightly, supporting me, and together we managed to get back into the bedroom.

They let me fall onto the bed, and Mercedes stepped forward, cupping a mug of tea in her hands. She passed it over to me and I took a sip. It was warm, on the side of hot, and sweet. It slid down my sore throat muscles and settled in my now empty stomach.

"So you two got invitations too?" I confirmed, feeling the comfort of the warm mug against my hands.

Both girls nodded. "Yeah, this evening, and then we both got texts saying that if we wanted proof of what this – person – could do, than we better come here. And I guess we got our proof," Camille explained.

I turned to look at Jo. She was older, more mature, than she had been when I had last seen her. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a simple ponytail, and she wore little to no makeup.

"Why are you back in the U.S?" I asked. "I mean – that didn't come out right. I just – I thought you were somewhere in Europe."

Jo shrugged. "I was. But production on the movie got halted due to some problems with the budget, so I came back out here to spend some time with Cam and my older friends, and…Stephanie's here by the way, she's downstairs. She's looking for clues in our invitations – she got one too, did I mention that? – for clues as to who this person could be, but she'll be up soon…"

As she said that, the door opened and Stephanie King walked in, her dark brown hair swinging down around her shoulders. "I couldn't find anything," she announced, crossing her arms angrily. "But I'd kind of like to know who the hell thought they could do something like this."

"When did you get your invitation?" I croaked out.

"Earlier this evening, along with tickets for the first flight out of New York. I called Jo and Camille since I kept in touch with them after I moved back to the Big Apple, they picked me up, and things just kind of snowballed from there."

I nodded, feeling the rest of my strength beginning to leave me.

"Oh, by the way, I picked this up – I guess you dropped it when you were puking your guts out." Camille slapped my phone in my hand.

I activated it to check the time, and felt my stomach lurch a bit as I saw I had four new messages. The girls exchanged meaningful looks.

"Do you think it's from The Replacement?" Stephanie asked, biting her lip. "I got one before I got my invitation."

"So did I," Camille added.

"And I," Jo confirmed.

"Only one way to find out," I said, and with my stomach roiling, I opened the text:

_**Sorry about the car, Diamond, but your boss wasn't going to cooperate unless he realized how easily I could get so close to you. I think he's convinced now though. And man, it's a good thing you checked your phone, otherwise you might not have gotten out of the car in time – I would have hated to blow you up. Btw, how did you like the pictures of Katie I left you? She looks good, doesn't she? A bit sad, but good. But don't worry, you'll see for yourself – all of you Big Time Rush boys will! I'm seeing a nice little reunion for you all up ahead, won't that be fun? –The Replacement.**_

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><p><em><strong>So, how was that? Sorry if it was a little choppy, or if I didn't explain enough in some places. It was, like, 1:30 at night when I was writing this and I was exhausted. I went back and reread it today before posting, but I still might have missed some stuff.<strong>_

_**Car bombs...pictures of Katie...The Replacement...And yes, I know Mercedes was very OOC in this, but my reasoning for that is that she's an adult now and more mature...plus she was a *little* tipsy.**_

_**So...questions? Comments? I love 'em all, and hearing your opinions on the story are always interesting...and yes, I do reply in some way to every review I get (unless the story is finished and the review is anonymous, but I'm always grateful for reviews). So...please review! And now I'll stop begging...Slowly backing away from the computer now...;)**_


	3. Chapter 3 Double Warning

_**Chapter 3 is up...*Dun, dun, dun*...**_

_**Disclaimer: Here's the thing - I'm an 18 year old, and a girl, neither of which Scott Fellows is. He owns Big Time Rush. I own their songs and their DVDs, but nothing else that is associated with them.**_

_**I was hoping to get this up yesterday, but things got a little busy yesterday afternoon, and I kind of got blocked on this chapter, so it might be a little choppy or off or something, but I'm hoping it's okay.**_

_**Jatie 4 ever: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you decided to give the story a try, even though this isn't really what you're into. Awww, I'm blushing now! You're always so sweet! Thank you, and...my stories are probably a healthier addiction than, well, pretty much everything else, so thanks again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**ktsuzanne: Thank you so much, I'm happy you like it so far! And thank you for reviewing :)**_

_**THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed and/or alerted or favorited this story! I got so many alerts and favorites the last couple of days it's insane, so thank you! They made me want to get this chapter up even faster :)**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 3 – Double Warning<strong>

**(Thursday, May 1****st****)**

**Katie's POV**

Mom woke me up after at about six in the morning, eyes wide and cautious. "I've made coffee and there's a pile of toast on the table."

"Thanks," I mumbled as I pushed the covers back and slipped out of bed. I managed to get into the bathroom to brush my teeth, comb out my hair, and wash my face, before stumbling out to the kitchen. Mom had the TV in the living room turned on to the early morning news, and the coffee maker was hissing and spitting.

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but it had taken me ages to fall asleep, so I was running on about two-and-a-half hours of sleep; I needed the caffeine.

I poured myself a cup, stirred in some milk and sugar, and took a cautious sip, nearly burning the skin off of my tongue in the process.

"Do you want to get into the shower first, or should I?" Mom asked as she drank from her coffee mug.

"You can," I replied, still half-asleep. "I'm still trying to accept that I'm awake."

Mom chuckled, but the smile dropped off her face as the news anchorman announced, "…Early this morning, pop superstar and action movie star James Diamond just narrowly escaped death when his Mustang exploded on mega-producer Gustavo Rocque's property. Diamond was reportedly at Rocque's for his album release party, although reports say that he left for his home earlier that evening. The reasons for his return are yet unclear, although there are rumors that a blackmailer placed a bomb in the trunk of Diamond's car. Diamond is uninjured, although shaken, and has yet to make an official statement, although he did tweet this morning that he was grateful for everyone's support and he was fine, just shocked…Diamond has been making headline news with his latest single skyrocketing on the charts…"

Mom muted the TV and turned to look at me. "Katie? Sweetie? Are you okay?"

I felt my legs give out from under me and I collapsed in a chair. What would be the easiest way to answer? Um, no.

"Someone tried to kill him," I mumbled out. "Someone blew up his car. There was a blackmailer. Oh my God…"

Mom bit her lip. "They don't know that for certain, only James and probably Gustavo and Kelly do."

The screen changed from a close up of the news anchorman to a shot of the front of Gustavo's mansion. The camera zoomed in on the blackened skeleton of James's car, and then cut to a shot of two girls holding on to…James.

My stomach dropped down to the floor as I realized just who I was looking at.

James Diamond slowly walked around the burnt rubble that used to be his car with a look of pure, unadulterated shock on his face, as Jo Taylor and Camille Roberts clutched him, apparently supporting him. Stephanie King followed behind with Mercedes Griffin, while Gustavo Rocque, Kelly Wainwright, and Arthur Griffin trailed behind the other two girls.

Mom un-muted the TV as the camera flashed LIVE, letting us know that this was actually happening while we watched. The sun had yet to rise in LA, and it was dark, but with the spotlights from the police cruisers that were parked everywhere, it was easy to make out the faces and the actions.

"I just – I can't – this makes no sense – " James was stuttering out, running a hand over his unshaven face. His hair was a mess, and his face was pale under his tan. I felt my heart stop as I heard his voice. I had forgotten how smooth and velvety it was, even when he could barely get the words out. Oh God…the memories…

Jo and Camille gripped James even firmer as he stumbled a bit. "He's in shock, we all are," Jo assured the cameras, brown eyes huge and scared.

Mom sighed and shut the TV off. "I think that's all we really need to see."

I nodded silently, not completely sure what to say or do.

"Eat," Mom ordered me, pointing at the plate of toast in the middle of the table. "You need your strength and energy, we have a long two weeks ahead of us."

Ain't that the truth?

Mom headed for the only bathroom in the house, so that she could shower, and I grabbed a piece of the sourdough toast, loading it with strawberry jam and biting into it.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen. James's car had blown up. He had nearly been killed. He was an absolute wreck. His hair was a mess. I had heard his speaking voice for the first time in three years. Jo and Stephanie were back in LA. Why were they even back on the west coast? I had thought Jo was still in England, and Stephanie in New York city.

I managed to choke the rest of my toast down, and made my way to my room, considering maybe getting started on packing for the next two weeks. I knew this cruise was a trap, what else could it be? But Mom was determined that the only way to keep me and the guys safe was to be go on the cruise. Yeah, that had worked well for James, hadn't it?

My phone sat innocently on my nightstand, but I wondered if The Replacement knew I had seen the news.

I activated my phone and my stomach flipped over: New messages.

_**Katie– I know you're still not completely convinced that the cruise would be the best thing. But believe me, if you have any plans for escape, think again. Diamond's car exploding just seconds after he escaped was a warning to Gustavo, who thought defying me would be a smart move. I got to Diamond, and I can get to you and your mom just as easily, remember? You wouldn't want your mom to be hurt, now would you? –The Replacement. P.S –Must've been nice seeing him again, hmmm? And you'll be seeing him tomorrow! I bet you're excited ;)**_

Yep, The Replacement knew I had seen the thing about James's car.

But…this made no sense. The Replacement had slid a newspaper article into my car mere hours before planting the bomb in James's car, and then was back here in Minnesota again, and spying on me. How…how was that even possible? The answer was simple: It wasn't. Unless…there was more than one person involved in this scheme…But was that even important at this point?

No, I decided. No, it's not. I just need to focus on keeping Mom and me alive for the next two weeks. And that's when it hit me – James and Gustavo were going to be on the cruise as well. Oh no…But did that mean that my brother and Logan and Carlos would be on the cruise as well? And Kelly? Maybe Griffin? And Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, all together, helping James. Oh my God. This was a freaking reunion. It would also be a bloodbath once everyone saw each other again. There had been waaay too much hurt and betrayal for anyone to let anything slide. Shit. We were all screwed.

Mom and I left for the airport at 9:50, neither of us talking much. We got to the airport at around noon, and managed to get through airport security. We had lunch at McDonald's, before plopping down in the seats at the terminal, waiting for boarding.

The flight was fine, if uneventful, which, considering it's an _airplane_, is a good thing. After all, when the planes were hijacked on September 11th, it was probably the most eventful flight in every passenger's life. It was also their last one. RIP, 9/11 victims.

Sure enough, there was a rental car waiting for us at LAX, and we headed off for the Motel 6 that we were supposed to be staying at.

I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Twenty-four hours ago I was doing my homework in my bedroom in Chasm Lake, Minnesota, and had just gotten one of the first texts from The Replacement. Now here I was, sitting in a rental car, speeding through LA, blinking in the sunlight, while there was at least one maniac out there who was bringing us all together for some reason, probably a completely sick one, because why else would we all be getting threatened? Why else would James's car have blown up?

The Motel 6 room was just like pretty much every other Motel 6 room. A TV, two full-sized beds, the usual.

"It's so nice to be back out in LA, in the bright sunshine," Mom said, sounding almost cheerful, as she dropped her bags on the floor of the room.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied. "Although considering the reason we're out here…You know, the whole we're-

probably-going-to-end-up-on-a-reenactment-of-the-Titanic-cruise thing…"

"That doesn't mean we can't at enjoy ourselves," Mom reprimanded me sternly.

"I guess…"

The rest of the day mainly consisted of us recharging from the events of the past twenty-four hours. We just laid on our beds, watching TV, not talking too much because, honestly, what was there to talk about? I had no idea who The Replacement could be, and Mom didn't seem to know either. And no matter how much I insisted that the cruise was sure to be a trap for us, that there was no way we were going to get off of the ship, if we even made it to the DLS-S (what did the second _S_ even stand for anyway?), she wouldn't budge. I guess I could see why. After seeing the ruined car on TV, it was pretty obvious that The Replacement was beyond dangerous, but that didn't mean we should just lay down belly-up and let them do whatever they wanted to us. They were just a deranged bully with access to explosives, nothing more. If we took away their blocked number and their bombs, we'd probably end up with some skinny kid with a bad case of acne who was using fear and mind games to control us.

But talking Mom into that wasn't so easy.

At about six, we finally got up, changed out of our jeans and sweatshirts and into shorts and t-shirts (completely different climate), and headed out to dinner, before shopping for whatever extra stuff we needed that we hadn't had time to grab.

We returned back to the motel around nine, watched TV for a couple more hours, and then climbed into bed. I smiled into the darkness. I hadn't gotten any more texts from The Replacement, no freaky messages, no nothing. But then again…tomorrow was the day we would be in _their_ domain, on _their_ turf, at _their_ mercy. Who knew what would happen? Who knew if we would even survive the day?

Needless to say, those happy thoughts did pretty much nothing for a peaceful night's sleep. I tossed and turned for hours once again before exhaustion finally took a hold of me and I drifted off.

I was shaken awake at eight-o-clock the next morning by my mom, who looked just as tense and scared as she had the night before.

"Katie, this was left outside the door," she hissed at me, eyes huge.

She was holding a printed copy of what looked like an online blog. The title? _**James Diamond's Car On Fire – Literally**_.

I snorted. "Clever."

"Katie…_this_ was left outside our _door_! It's a reminder! It's a warning!"

"Mom, chill. We're already going through with this stupid thing. I guess The Replacement is a little insecure and isn't as _all-knowing_ as they'd like us to think they are."

"Well, check your phone anyway."

I struggled out of bed and went to my purse, where my phone was. I pulled it out and felt my stomach somersault as I saw that I had a new message. It had been sent just moments before, like the person knew Mom had just gotten the article…Oh God, that was creepy.

"It's probably nothing," I said quickly.

"Probably," Mom agreed.

I opened the text and my jaw dropped:_** So Katie, so far you and your mom have cooperated. Nice job, and smart move! But your brother isn't cooperating at all. Or…he was, but now that he's out here in LA, he's starting to get...shall we say…stage fright. So stay tuned to the news for the next few hours, because there should be something about Jo Taylor. Oh, but first you have to find a TV, because yours isn't going to work after your hotel room blows up in five minutes. Hope you get this text in time! –The Replacement. P.S –don't call 911, they won't be able to help, plus, I'm jamming your phones' signals.**_

"Mom, we have to get out of here, now!"

"What – why?"

"Our hotel room is going to blow up in five minutes!"

I was already yanking jeans and a t-shirt on, and Mom followed suit. We grabbed our bags, and scurried out of there as fast as we could.

Mom immediately pulled her phone out, but cussed vilely. "The signal's blocked!"

I checked mine and wasn't surprised to see that mine was jammed too. "So's mine. The Replacement said that they were jamming our signals, but…"

"We have to do something!" Mom cried. "There – there might be people in the rooms on either side of ours!"

"I – "

And that's when the room that just ten minutes before I had been sleeping in, blew up.

Mom and I looked at each other.

"I think it's too late," I whispered.

"I think you're right. Come on, we have to get out of here. And let's see if we can find a TV."

(*)(*)(*)(*)

**James's POV**

**(Friday, May 2****nd****)**

"So, everything's packed, it just needs to be loaded in Gustavo's car," Jo reported as she double-checked one of her suitcases.

I nodded, watching her make sure she hadn't forgotten anything for the cruise.

"Jo," Stephanie said with an eye roll, "I'm sure you aren't going to be needing a winter parka for the cruise."

"Well, you never know," Jo retorted defensively. "We don't know what route the DLS-S is going to be taking. What if it goes up north? Then it would be good to have warm clothes."

Camille frowned, biting at her lip. "That makes sense. Damn. I've gotta go buy a heavy coat."

I snorted. "And where are you going to find one of those in Los Angeles, the sunshine capital?"

Camille gave me a sly smile as she pulled her Blackberry out. "I have my sources."

"By the way, how are you just going to disappear off the face of the earth for the next two weeks?" Stephanie wanted to know, looking from Camille to me. "I mean, _you're_ on a hit TV show and _your_ third album is about to drop. You're both two very popular celebrities. So how is this going to go down?"

Camille shrugged. "The show's on hiatus right now."

"And Gustavo's sent out an announcement that I need some time off, so I'll be out of the public eye for a couple of weeks," I added. "Gustavo is apparently also taken a break, and Griffin is retreating to one of his many estates to work through some business problems."

Stephanie nodded, impressed. "Sounds like you guys have this all figured out."

"Ah, we're probably missing something, we just haven't caught it yet," I replied modestly.

"I knew it!" Camille shrieked, not paying any attention to Stephanie's and my conversation. "James, how could you forget about sporting goods stores? Snowboarding? Skiing?"

I clapped my hand to my head. "Crap, I completely blanked on that. Wow, that's pretty bad. Sorry Cami, I'm just…my mind's just kind of jumbled."

"All of our minds are jumbled," Jo assured me.

Camille smiled at us, before grabbing her purse. "I'm heading off to that store now. I'll be back soon."

"Be careful!" I called after her. "Check your car for bombs before you get in!"

"Will do." Camille left the room, a couple of minutes later, I heard her car start up and pulled out of Gustavo's driveway. We were all staying at Gustavo's mansion because it was the one place that The Replacement hadn't completely penetrated – all three girls had discovered pictures of Kendall, Logan, and Carlos (depending on the girl, of course) with a threatening note, although so far there hadn't been any more exploding cars. That much was a relief, but after my car had blown up last night, it felt like there was just something hanging over our heads.

Jo shifted a little uncomfortably as she tugged at her blonde hair. "So…um…I heard about Big Time Rush's breakup," she said softly. "It was pretty well publicized. It sounded really...um…"

"The word you're looking for is _disastrous_."

"Yeah, I guess I am. I'm sorry. Have you – you guys aren't friends any longer, are you?"

I shook my head. "I haven't seen any of them since a couple of days after the last fight."

Stephanie bit her lip. "What was the fight about?"

I looked over at her. "We just all wanted different things. One thing led to another and everything just kind of…BOOM! Right in our faces."

"But from everything I've heard, you're all successful now," Stephanie insisted. "Especially you."

I gave her a long look. "That doesn't mean I'm happy."

"No, I guess not."

There was the sound of a phone vibrating and Jo pulled hers out. She glanced at it, frowning. "That's weird. It's a text from The Replacement. It says '_Duck_'. What the hell does that mean?"

My mind went into overdrive the way Logan's used to, and in that second, I could have told you exactly what was going to happen. "It means to duck!" and I grabbed both girls and yanked them down to the floor, just as there was a CRACK and the bedroom window glass shattered, pierced by a bullet.

There was another CRACK and the sound of more gunshots discharging, aimed at the bedroom window. It was surreal to see the bullets hitting the wall, bouncing off, scraping paint and taking chunks of plaster with them.

The door burst open, amidst the gunfire, and Gustavo and Griffin both came running in.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Gustavo roared, and Jo, Stephanie, and I all looked up at him from where we were lying flat on the floor, out of the range of ricocheting bullets.

"GET DOWN!" I yelled at him. "SOMEONE'S SHOOTING AT THE WINDOW!"

Neither man needed to be told twice. They both threw themselves down onto the ground with yelps of terror as more bullets crashed into the room.

There was a pause, and then there was the biggest crash yet, and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. There was silence. Dead silence.

I pushed myself up onto my knees and crawled forward. There was a rock a few feet away from the window, sitting in the midst of an explosion of glass. And taped to the rock…

Carefully, very carefully, I detached the rock from the sharp edges of glass and gently tore the paper off,

handing it to Jo.

"I think this is for you."

Jo stared at me. "How do you know?"

"Because you're the one who got the text that said to 'duck'."

Jo didn't reply; instead, she just unfolded the paper and read through it, face going white and eyes becoming teary. "Damn it," she whispered. "Just…damn it."

"What? What is it?" Stephanie asked, sounding scared. She crept over to Jo and put her arm around the blonde. "Jo, what did the note say?"

Jo cleared her throat and read aloud in a mocking tone, "'I really hope you got my text in time, because otherwise, well, there's really no point to this message. I bet you're wondering for the reason for the shooting. Well, you can pinpoint that to your ex-boyfriend, one Mr. Kendall Knight. He's here in LA, but he began to get second thoughts, and he needed some convincing. Oh, and there should be something on the news soon enough about Katie and Jennifer Knight, just to let you know – I thought he would need even more convincing than Gustavo did. –The Replacement.'"

I felt my fists clench and my eyes narrow in anger. "That bastard. That sick bastard."

Griffin sighed. "I suppose we need to do our part and report this and let the news vans come by and everything."

For once, he didn't want the publicity. I couldn't say I blamed him. Who wanted publicity for something like this?

"We should also go see what The Replacement did to Katie and Jen," Gustavo added. He paused, then glanced around. "Where's Camille?"

"She went out to get a heavy coat," Jo said, wiping her eyes. "God, I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she's fine," I assured Jo. "Why don't you call her?"

"Yeah…I think I will."

We all headed downstairs to where the plasma TV was, while Jo dialed Camille's number. Camille answered, and a look of relief flooded across Jo's face at the sound of her friend's face. She explained quickly what had happened, but I tuned her out within seconds, because of what had just come up on the news.

"…Breaking news…Early this morning, there was an explosion in a Motel 6 on Dalton Drive…the room was reportedly rented out to Jennifer Knight and her daughter. There is no sign of either woman, and authorities suspect that they may be the ones responsible for the demolishment of the room. Several fellow guests were injured…"

Gustavo flicked the TV off. "Well, at least we know that they're out here in LA."

"And they made it out safely," Jo said softly, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I hadn't even realized that I was hunched up and shaking until she and Stephanie both pulled me into a hug. "James, they're okay. It was just a warning to Kendall, that's all. They're fine."

I hugged them back. "I know. I know. They are. They have to be."

Katie. Oh man, please let her be okay…PLEASE…!

My phone vibrated in my pocket and both girls pulled back at the feeling. I raised my hands. "I swear, that wasn't my body, that was my phone."

Stephanie laughed shrilly, the shock of being shot at apparently beginning to hit her. "I hope not, because otherwise I would have to kick you in your pretty-boy ass."

"You better check your phone, make sure it's not another text telling us that we…I don't know…need to evacuate the house because The Replacement managed to cause a gas leak," Jo told me.

I nodded and pulled my phone from my pocket, opening the texts: _**Oh James, are you worried about Katie? What would Kendall say if he knew? I bet you're blushing like crazy right now…oh, that's right, I forgot – you have rosacea. Of course. Anyway, don't feel too embarrassed, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw the segment about you and your car on the news. She nearly fainted, so she obviously still cares about you. Isn't that just so sweet? And yes, she and Jen Knight are alive. They escaped, though narrowly. Feeling relieved? You should be. –The Replacement.**_

Something was wrong with the texts, something just didn't quite mesh, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it…

The front door swung open and Camille rushed in, carrying a large shopping bag bulging with her new coat.

"Cami!" Jo cried, leaping to her feet and running to Camille. She threw her arms around her, and Camille held her as Jo burst into tears, her body shaking ferociously with sobs. The horror of what had happened had just hit her.

Stephanie stood up and walked over to Jo and Camille and wrapped her arms around them, crying quietly as well, and I followed suit, pulling all three girls into my embrace while they shook with tears.

Gustavo and Griffin just sat there on the couch in stunned silence, as if they had never seen crying girls before.

"Katie's alive," I called the two shocked men. "The Replacement let me know in the text – " And that's when it hit me. The Replacement knew we had just seen the news. The Replacement knew I was freaking out about Katie. Oh my God.

"We have to get the hell out of here now!" I shouted, startling the girls enough for them to stop crying. "The Replacement…they're listening in, they're probably somewhere in here right now. We have to go now!"

Within minutes, we had rounded up Kelly and Mercedes, said goodbye to the latter, and were throwing our luggage into Griffin's stretch limo and climbing in, on our way to the Santa Monica pier.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

**Katie's POV**

I sat in a small burger joint in Santa Monica, not far from the pier, chowing down on a cheeseburger, and staring at the small TV screen above the counter. A baseball game was playing, but there was no hint of anything concerning Jo. Maybe things hadn't gone the way The Replacement had thought they would.

Just as I was thinking that though, Mom gasped. I had looked down for a split second, and when I glanced back up, I saw a close-up of a familiar mansion, partway hidden under the words: _**Breaking News**_.

"Can you turn it up?" Mom called to the cashier.

The cashier didn't say anything, but turned the volume up so that we could hear what the news caster was saying.

"…Just an hour ago, someone shot a rifle gun at a guest room window at mega-producer Gustavo Rocque's mansion…No suspects at this point…No wounded…Early this morning, James Diamond's car was blown up on Rocque's property..."

I dropped my head into my hands. "There it is. Jo must've been in the mansion and someone shot at her."

Mom nodded in agreement.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

**Kendall's POV**

I looked from the screen of the TV down to the screen of my phone. No way…no…no…The Replacement had nearly killed both Katie _and_ Jo? How? How could they do something like that to me? To my baby sister and my ex-girlfriend?

_She's not my baby sister anymore, I told myself. She chose Mom._

But that didn't mean that I didn't love her anymore. I would always love her. I reread the text. It was pretty simple:_** So Kendork, congratulations! You nearly got Katie and Jo killed. Tell me: How does that make you feel? –The Replacement.**_

Sick. That's how it made me feel. Fucking sick. Just like this game The Replacement was playing. Imagine, using people against other people just to get them to do what you want. What kind of person did that? I'll answer that: A really sick one.

But I knew I had no choice. According to the news, Katie had almost been blown up in her motel room, and Jo had almost gotten her head shot off. And then there was James…I'll be honest, I missed my friends, but after everything we said and did…it was hard to forgive and forget. But James had almost been killed too, his car had been blown up. I didn't know why, but I figured that if The Replacement had almost killed Katie and Jo because I was refusing to get on the DLS-S ship, then someone else has refused and that car bomb was to scare that person.

I had no choice. I had to get on that ship. And I knew I would have to face Katie and Mom and James, because, well, they were obviously involved in this too. And Jo…I would be seeing her again. And Logan and Carlos? What about them? Had they been blackmailed as well?

Why was The Replacement bringing us back together for a reunion on a freaking cruise? That seemed pretty expensive. Why not just rent out a steakhouse and hope that we all showed up? Wouldn't that be so much easier?

So much easier, yes. Sadistically fun? No.

I glanced at the time on my phone and saw that it was nearly noon already. I had to get down to the Santa Monica pier, because boarding _started_ at twelve. I had to show up, I had no choice. If I didn't, who knew what would happen to Katie and Jo? I grabbed my luggage and burst out of my Holiday Inn room, ready to head down to the lobby to checkout.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

**Katie's POV**

I stepped out of the rental car, and sniffed the air. It smelled salty and damp, like the Pacific Ocean. Gee, really? How about that?

Mom got out of the car too, shielding her eyes with a hand to keep the bright sun at bay, as she peered around, trying to see the ship that we were supposed to boarding. It didn't take long to spot it. Most of the ships were either ferries or cargo ships, but there was only one cruise ship docked at the moment. And painted on the side of the pure white cruise ship in gold lettering? _**The DLS-S**_. Bingo.

Mom popped the trunk open and we got our luggage out. We each had one suitcase, the kind with wheels at the bottom that you can roll, and a duffel bag, plus our purses, because you just never know what's going to happen or what you're going to need.

Mom locked up the car, biting her lip nervously, and tucked the keys into her jeans pocket. "Got everything?" she asked, slightly pointlessly since the car had already been locked. It was sign of how anxious and scared she was that she was asking me this three seconds late.

I nodded. "I'm good. Come on, let's just go get on board."

As we walked in the general direction of the DLS-S, I could feel my heart begin to race and the clenching in my stomach that I had been trying to ignore for the past few days begin to tighten and increase, as if something was trying to pull my stomach straight into my spine. It occurred to me that this might be the last time that we would ever walk on dry land, and I tried to memorize the feeling of the pavement against the soles of my sneakers, tried to enjoy the feeling of the hot sun beating down, reflecting against my hair.

We were halfway between the car and the DLS-S when I realized suddenly with another jolt to the stomach, that in the _invitation_, The Replacement had never used anyone against _me_. So what was keeping me from running? Mom. That much was obvious. But she had never really been mentioned in the texts. But someone else had…James. It was an unspoken threat, but The Replacement had managed to let me know that they knew all about the…circumstances…between James and me, and they knew that James would be my third weak point, the first being my mother, and the second being Kendall, even if I was completely pissed with him and wanted to push him out of a window half the time.

And Kendall…Kendall must care about me if I had been used as a threat to him. But what about James? As far as I knew, no one had been threatened because of James. But then again, who would be used as a threat to him? I had no idea if he was even close to anyone anymore. I knew for a fact that he didn't have a girlfriend, because that would have been all over the internet, and as far as I knew, the only people who he was ever photographed with were fans, Gustavo, Kelly, Griffin, Mercedes, and once in a rare while, Camille. Somehow I didn't see any of them being used against James. I just couldn't picture it. He cared about them, but it seemed like The Replacement was only going after people's loved ones…and did James even have any loved ones?

We had reached the dock now, and halted right in front of the DLS-S, our home away from home. Awesome. Considering we had been blackmailed into probably reenacting _The Titanic_, this ship had better be damn nice.

The wind was blowing, as always, and I quickly slid off the hair tie that I kept on my wrist, trapping it between my teeth. I gathered my hair back and did my best to pull my hair into a neat ponytail, but I had the feeling that I looked like I had just flown in on the roof of a jet plane. Epic fail duly noted.

I huffed and pulled the hair tie out of my hair again, and was about to retry when Mom nudged me in the ribs. "Sweetie…I think I see one of our fellow passengers."

I turned in the direction she was looking at and lost all sense of composure as my hair escaped from my hands and the hair tie fell from my mouth to the ground. Well, I wouldn't be using that one again until it was thoroughly sterilized.

But I couldn't focus on that. I couldn't focus on anything.

Because coming towards me, hands in the pockets of his dark rinse skinny jeans, black t-shirt showing off to-die-for muscles, his brown hair blowing slightly but still as perfect as it always had been, a smile on his face and his large hazel eyes glittering, was none other than…

…James Diamond.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Okay. Tell me the truth. I can take it. No, seriously, I can! What did you guys think? Did the last part seem rushed? Was the first part too slow? Was it all just...aaagh? Like I said, I had some trouble with this chapter, but I'm hoping any inadequacies are all in my head...<em>**

**_Okay, enough of me pretty much convincing myself to go see a therapist...Seriously, how was the chapter? I know a lot of people got really indignant over James almost being killed in the last chapter (thank you very much on his behalf to those of you who were!), and this time there was a bomb AND a gun._**

**_Sorry about there being really no Jatie in this chapter. I know, I know, it's the 3rd chapter and they only just saw each other, but...at least they're seen each other! And if you're a Kendall-lover, I'm sorry that there's almost none of him in this chapter as well, just a brief smidgen, to show his thoughts and feelings when he heard about Katie and Jo._**

**_Okay, so...Review? The review button is lonely, and it would be thrilled if you guys would show it some love. Seriously, it's very cuddly, in a virtual sort of way. :)_**


	4. Chapter 4 Reunions

_**Ladies and gentlemen, you have now entered Chapter 4 of The DLS-S Cruise. If you will take your seats, we will begin...**_

_**Disclaimer: Still don't own Big Time Rush...**_

_**Anonymous #1 (I got two Anonymouses, so I'm just going to number you both, okay?): Thank you for reviewing! There's more Jatie in this chapter. :)**_

_**PopcornLover: Awww, thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it! And thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**Anonymous #2: Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoyed it! Haha, sorry about the cliffy, but this chapter has the reunion, so hopefully you'll forgive me *puppy dog eyes*. You know what? That's a really good idea! I'm probably going to do that, so thank you for the suggestion! I can see why you might think it was Logan or Carlos, but you're right - there's no way they would use bombs on their friends. Thanks again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**ktsuzanne: Thank you so much! I'm happy you liked it! Thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED, ALERTED, OR FAVORITED MY STORY! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH, YOU'RE ALL AMAZING! :)**_

_**So...a couple of the characters (okay, maybe a bunch of them, depending on your perspective) are going to be OOC in this chapter. Because of everything that has happened, they're supposed to be that way. I'm sorry if it annoys anyone, but there is a reason for it.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 – Reunions<strong>

**James's POV**

**(May 2****nd****, Friday)**

The car ride down to the pier was pretty uneventful, which I saw as a good thing. But it didn't take me long to realize just how stupid running out of the house was. If you're going to escape from some stalker-creep, the least you can do is be smart enough _not_ to go to that person's cruise ship where they're waiting for you.

Unfortunately, none of us seemed to be quite that smart.

You know what else isn't smart? Riding in a limo when some psycho has made it very clear that they don't really care if they kill you. Limousines tend to draw attention, even in LA, where everyone just drives expensive, eco-friendly cars.

But there we were, sitting in the back of a black stretch limo, with a license plate that said _**Griffin1**_, with the license plate number _**CEO4-num1**_. Yeah, that wasn't going to attract attention at all.

"Well," Griffin said, stretching out luxuriously, hands behind his head, "I must say, this is nice."

Gustavo, Kelly, Camille, Jo, Stephanie, and I all gaped at him as if he had just said that the sky was green.

"How – how – how is this nice?" Gustavo spluttered out. "We've just escaped from MY MANSION which has somehow been infiltrated by some psychotic stalker, and now we're heading to that psychotic stalker's lair! Tell me Griffin – which part of being trapped in between a rock and hard spot is nice?"

Griffin sighed lazily. "It's nice to finally be able to relax and get away from the stress of life."

We continued to stare at him as if he had lost his mind – which he obviously had.

"Are you drunk?" Kelly demanded. "Because you must be drunk. There's no other explanation for your frame of mind."

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, I am not in any means intoxicated. I just believe in a positive attitude."

"So do I," I assured him. "And I have a very positive attitude about the ship sinking ten minutes into the cruise."

"There's only a fifty/fifty chance of that," Griffin insisted calmly.

"Oh, yeah, so the odds are in our favor. Sweet! We have a fifty percent chance to still be alive in three hours."

"Oh look, we're here, goody," Camille deadpanned as we pulled up into the pier parking lot.

Griffin snapped his fingers. "I'll have Jeeves bring our luggage up to the dock."

"Jeeves? Really?" I mouthed to the girls, all of whom smirked with amusement at the utter cliché.

We got out of the car and headed up to the pier. My head was still spinning from the events of an hour ago. Everything was happening so fast, I just couldn't get my mind around it. I really just needed time to slow down for a couple of hours so I could step back and really get a clear focus on everything. But unless someone had invented a time machine in the past hour or so, that wasn't going to happen.

We stepped onto the dock and I breathed in the beautiful scent of sea air. The ocean was rippling slightly, and the ship rocked gently. The DLS-S looked like your average cruise ship, with nothing sinister about it. Wow. I had half-expected an old pirate ship with a skull-and-crossbones flag.

Jo glanced at the time on her phone. "I'm starving, I haven't eaten all day."

"Me neither," Stephanie agreed.

Jo, Stephanie, Camille, Gustavo, Kelly, and Griffin headed off to find some food, leaving me by myself on the dock. They're such good friends.

I glanced around, feeling the breeze whipping my hair slightly, and that's when I saw her. Katie. Oh my God.

She was beautiful. She was trying to get her long, brown hair in a ponytail, but then Mrs. Knight turned around and caught my eye. She said something to Katie, who glanced in my direction as I began walking towards them, and immediately her eyes widened. The hair tie fell from between her lips and her hands dropped from her hair.

"Oh my God," she breathed out as I moved closer. "Oh my…"

I reached them, and within a split second, Mama Knight had launched herself at me, hugging me tightly as if I was a life raft and she had been drowning in the ocean.

"Oh James," she mumbled, "you don't know how worried we've been ever since we got The Replacement's invitation…"

"I know," I breathed out, stroking her curly red hair while still staring at Katie as she bent down to retrieve her hair tie, and then straightened back up again, a look of shock on her face. "I know. Me too."

Mrs. Knight let go of me and I found myself stepping towards Katie. She froze, but that didn't stop me. I wrapped my arms around her, and after a second's hesitation, she put her arms around my waist, burying her face in my chest. And for a split second, I was nineteen and she was sixteen and we were in 2J and she was making me swear that I would never leave her. But I had…What were the chances that she had forgotten and forgiven? Hmmm…since it's Katie…probably not very good.

We might have stood like that for the rest of our lives if Mrs. Knight hadn't cleared her throat. "Oh look, I think the boarding officer is coming towards us." Her voice was flat, with a hint of sarcasm. Whoa. Since when did Mama Knight, the woman who used to wrack Kendall around the head when he was being a smart ass, use sarcasm?

Katie pulled away from me and I let my arms fall to my sides, immediately missing the feeling of her body against mine. Yeah, apparently my feelings hadn't changed in the past three years. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, though.

A man in a blue uniform, similar to a Naval officer's, approached us, several men wearing white uniforms following close behind. "Are you here for the DLS-S cruise?"

We all nodded, mouths closed and faces white.

"Names?" he tapped his chained pen against his clipboard.

Mrs. Knight cleared her throat. "Jennifer and Katie Knight. Although Katie's name might be under Katherine."

"Nope, her name's under Katie. And yours?" he turned to me.

"James Diamond."

"Here you are. All right, you can board at any time between now and 1:30. The hostess will direct you to your rooms. These men – " he gestured to the men in white " – will take your luggage. Have a fun and safe cruise." And he walked away, shiny black shoes tapping against the wood of the dock, the luggage-carrier-guys hurrying after him, huffing and puffing as they hauled my designer luggage and Mrs. Knight and Katie's suitcases and duffel bags away.

Mrs. Knight turned to us, eyes bright and worried. "I'm going to go find a bathroom. I'll be right back."

For the first time in three years, Katie and I were alone. Although considering what tended to happen when we were by ourselves, that maybe wasn't the best idea in the world…

Katie turned to me. "I haven't forgiven you, you know. I still hate you for what you did."

Direct little thing, isn't she?

I felt my face and my spirits drop. "I know. I'm sorry, so sorry. I never…After what happened with the band…Everything just kind of fell apart. But…I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped loving you."

Her eyes hardened. "You still say the prettiest things, don't you James? Always the charmer. So why don't you do us all a favor and go and try to charm some snakes, preferably a boa constrictor." And she stalked past me, expression like stone.

Ouch. That was a little harsh. Although, let's face it, I kind of deserved it.

"Katie, wait – "

"Save it, James."

"Katie, come on. Please! We're going to be stuck together on a cruise ship that's probably going to end up getting blown up or something. Can't you at least talk to me?"

She paused. "I was thinking maybe the ship would hit an iceberg or something. The DLS-S getting blown up never even crossed my mind."

I felt a smile tug slightly at my lips. "Like the Titanic, right?"

"Exactly."

Katie had always loved that movie. It was pretty much the only sad movie that she ever watched all the way through. When she was younger, she used to gush over how cute and perfect Leonardo DiCaprio was as Jack, and she would always cry when Rose let go of Jack's frozen hand and let his body sink into the Atlantic Ocean. Come to think of it, I usually got a bit teary-eyed myself.

"Still think Leonardo DiCaprio is the hottest guy on earth?" I teased her.

She smirked. "Nah, he's not really my type anymore."

"Wait – you have a type?"

"I dated you, didn't I? _You're_ a type."

I shifted slightly. "Dated? Is that even the right word, considering it was top secret?"

She opened her mouth to answer me, and then closed it when Mrs. Knight drew level with us. "Oh good, Katie hasn't pushed you into the water yet," she said to me, sounding relieved.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Oh _puh-leeze_. I can handle situations like a mature, responsible adult. I mean, I only decked him twice."

I couldn't help it, I cracked up at that one. It was such a _Katie-thing_ to say, and so reminiscent of happier days, that I couldn't help but flash back to all of her one-liners or sarcastic comments. Only Katie.

Mrs. Knight laughed right along with me, and Katie's composure broke – she started laughing too.

We finally calmed down, and Mrs. Knight glanced at her wristwatch. "Come on, I think we better get on the ship."

And that's when my companions decided to show up.

"HIIIIII!" Camille shrieked, running towards us with her arms out. She grabbed both Katie and Mrs. Knight in a tight hug. I could almost see both Knight women begin to turn blue.

Jo and Stephanie joined us and helped me pry Camille off of Katie and Mama Knight.

"Sorry about that," Jo said with an apologetic smile. "We let her have sugar."

I rolled my eyes. "What the hell were you thinking? Shame on you!"

"Oh shut up," she retorted, wracking my arm.

Stephanie stepped forward to hug Katie and Mrs. Knight. "I promise not to squeeze you two half to death," she assured them while Camille flipped her off.

Jo hugged them as well, just as the adults over thirty joined us. Even more hugging went around, before Mrs. Knight glanced at her watch again.

"We really should all get on board, find out where our rooms are and such." She paused, before turning to Jo and Gustavo. "Do you know if Kendall's going to be joining us?"

"Oh, I imagine he will be," Gustavo drawled, arms across his huge chest. "If he hadn't, Jo and Katie would probably be in the emergency room by this time."

The lobby of the ship was very nice, paneled in blond wood, with oriental rugs spread out on the floor, and Picasso paintings on the walls.

A young Asian woman stood just inside the ship, wearing a dark blue dress suit with a nametag that read: _**Mindy**_. Her black hair was pulled back in a low, neat ponytail and held with a rectangular clip, and she was clutching a black folder to her chest.

"Names?" she asked.

Gustavo immediately stepped forward. "Gustavo Rocque and Kelly Wainwright." He turned to the rest of us. "I want to get us settled in first, so that maybe we can figure out what's going on."

"You two are in 3G. Have a nice cruise."

She handed them each a keycard, gave them directions, and then Griffin stepped forward. He had been on his phone, which was why he hadn't objected to Gustavo and Kelly getting their room numbers first.

"Arthur Griffin – "

Before Mindy could tell him which room he was in, there was a loud squeal: "NO WAAAAAY! STALKER CRUISE TIME! WHOOO!"

Guess who that was. If you were thinking along the lines of short, Latino, and energetic, then DING, DING, DING, you win!

We all spun around to find Carlos flying into the lobby, an excited look on his face.

"Carlos," Katie said slowly, "I think you're missing the point of the _stalker cruise_, as you so eloquently put it – when someone has threatened you, you're not supposed to get excited about being forced on that person's cruise."

Carlos shrugged, before grabbing Katie and pulling her into an enthusiastic hug. "Yeah, but it's still a free cruise! And in my book, that's reason enough to get excited."

"Since when do you even have any books?" Camille demanded, smiling slightly.

Carlos released Katie, who massaged her ribs, gasping slightly, and frowned indignantly at Camille. "It's a figure of speech, Cami!"

Carlos and I might never have seen each other, but all of our mutual Hollywood friends kept in touch with both of us. It didn't surprise me that Camille and Carlos were already ribbing each other, and acting like they were the best of friends, because they probably were pretty close to that anyway.

"Hey Carlos," Stephanie said shyly, stepping forward.

"Stephanie…wow…you look…wow…" He smiled widely, giving her an admiring look.

"Nice use of adjectives there, you must keep a whole collection of thesauruses," Katie deadpanned. It also didn't surprise me that she was a lot friendlier to Carlos than she had been to me. Chances were, he hadn't promised that no matter what happened with the band, he would never leave her. Plus, I was the one she had lost her virginity to when she was sixteen, not Carlos. Yeah, she had some really good reasons to be angry with me.

"As a matter of fact," Carlos stated proudly, "I don't own a single one."

"Some things never change," I muttered under my breath, and that's when Carlos finally faced me. His expression gave away almost nothing, and I wondered if he was as nervous as I was, or if he was still angry about what had happened. Carlos had had almost nothing to do with the breakup with the band – he had been trying to get us to calm down and think happy thoughts about kittens while we were screaming our heads off at each other.

"No, I guess they don't," he said softly. "James."

"Carlos."

There was a pause, and then Carlos gripped me in a huge bear hug, doubtlessly shocking everyone.

I hugged him back, guessing that this meant that maybe he wasn't as pissed off at me as I had thought he might be.

Carlos pulled back, grinning from ear to ear. "God, I've missed you. Still the same pretty boy as ever."

"Hey, look at you, the host of the newest reality show! How about that?"

Carlos shrugged. "It's crazy, and lots of fun. Plus, I get to participate in most of the stunts!"

"So, uh, you're not upset about…say…everything?"

A shadow crossed Carlos's face. "Oh, I am, believe me, but…it wasn't really anyone's fault. We were all growing apart anyway, it was just a matter of time before BTR split up."

"Really, because I remember you screaming at me that it was all _my_ fault that we were fighting in the first place," came an all-too familiar voice from the door. We all turned in that direction, and found Logan leaning against the doorframe, wearing sunglasses, his dark hair still short and spiky as ever.

"Dr. Mitchell," Katie proclaimed. "Nice of you to show up."

Logan slowly raised his sunglasses as if he were the spoiled pop star and not me, surveying us. "God, you guys really are idiots, aren't you? You can't even see what's in front of you!"

That was it. Our greeting after three years. He called us idiots. He must've been practicing that one in front of the mirror for months.

"Yeah, see, that makes no sense to those of us with normal-sized brains," I informed him.

He scowled at me. "I got this text from The Replacement – we're all here because of one person's secret. And I can guess who that person is."

Oh God. Did he mean…Katie and me? He must have. Who else had kept secrets from everyone else?

Logan glanced around the room, eyes not landing on anyone. "But I promised to keep that person's secret, so…Mindy, my name is Logan Mitchell. Which room am I in?"

"Room 2D. You're rooming with Arthur Griffin."

Logan dry choked. "What? That can't be right."

Mindy shrugged and handed him the binder she was holding. "See for yourself if you don't believe me."

Logan glowered at the page with his name, roommate, and room number on it, but then his expression vanished into a blank one. "Fine. Whatever. Where's 2D?"

Mindy began to explain to him, but I didn't catch most of what she said – my attention was drawn to the entrance, where a tall, slim, blond haired guy with eyebrows that had become infamous stood, watching the scene play out. Kendall.

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

Kendall's eyes met mine for a fleeting second, and then he stepped forward, no longer looking at me. "Can I get my room assignment?"

Mindy eyed him before saying, "You're in 3J – with…Jennifer Knight."

Kendall's jaw dropped. "WHAT? Are you – no – you can't – WHY?"

The last time I had seen Mom look so broken was when Kendall had stormed out of the house for the last time. Who knew that three years later, he could still get the same heartbreaking response from her?

I slipped my arm around Mom, pulling her to me. James came up on her other side and gave her a one-armed hug as well. Carlos frowned, obviously a little confused, but followed our lead and came around behind Mom, hugging her from behind.

"You've still got two of your boys, Mama Knight," Carlos assured her.

"And you've still got me," I added.

Kendall gave us all dirty looks, his eyes resting on Jo for a split second longer, before getting his keycard and marching off without even asking for directions. Typical Kendall. Knowing him, he would get lost and find himself in the boiler room or something. Some things never change.

Mom sighed and ducked out from all of our arms. "I'm Jennifer Knight. Can I have my keycard please? I need to go and find my son and talk to him."

"Mom – " I began, but she put her hand up.

"I need to talk to him alone. You find out where you're staying, okay? I'll come and find you later. Love you."

"I love you too," I muttered.

Mindy handed Mom her keycard and gave her directions, and Mom set off to find the room and the idiot who I lovingly call my brother.

Jo sighed, looking and sounding distressed. No wonder. Kendall had barely even looked at her.

"My name's Jo Taylor," she said to Mindy. "Can I have my keycard?"

"Sure. You're in room 3B with Camille Roberts."

"Thanks," Jo said, sounding exhausted, and took the keycard and headed off to her room.

"So Logan," I began. He turned to face me haughtily, quite an unusual expression on Logan's face.

"What?" he asked.

"No 'nice to see you, how's everything been going'? Or 'gee whiz, it's so good to know that you guys haven't been killed by the lunatic who blackmailed us all onto this cruise in the first place'? And what's with the attitude anyway? Just because none of us got a text blaming this entire thing on one person is no reason to treat us like we're invalids. James and Carlos and I all had falling outs, but at least we said 'hi' to each other and hugged and everything. You and Kendall are both acting like it was our idea to come on this cruise in the first place. Care to explain?"

Logan finally raised his sunglasses, securing them on his head. "Maybe I just don't want a replay of what happened during the last fight. Ever thought about that, Katie? Hmmm? Ever considered that there's more to this world than, oh, say, you?"

Whoa. That did not sound like Logan at all.

"Hey! Whoa there," Camille stepped in, waving her arms. "What the hell is the matter with you? Frankly, I think Katie has a damn good point. Kendall treated us all like we don't even exist, and you're going around acting like this whole thing is our fault and you're the only innocent party."

"Maybe that's because I am," Logan shot back at her. "Ever thought about that? Think about it, Camille. We all have secrets in this room. Every single one of us. And one of those secrets is the reason why we're all here. I think I can honestly say that I'm the only one here who doesn't have a secret that affected the band in some way."

"Oh yeah?" Camille shot back. "Then what's my secret?"

"You made out with James when we were seventeen. That had enough of an effect on the band and our relationship to perhaps – "

SMACK!

Camille had slapped Logan across the face. "How DARE you bring that up? That was _five_ years ago and it was an accident!"

"Camille." Stephanie and Jo both hurried forward to grab her and pin her back.

"Still as crazy as ever, eh Cami?" Logan retorted with a sneer on his face. "But you were always a crazy bitch."

"Okay, what the _fuck_ happened to you?" Stephanie screamed at Logan. "You were always so nice and sweet! How did you get to be such a…such a…"

"Such a what? Listen, Steph, only the sons of bitches ever get anywhere in life. Hollywood taught me that."

"That doesn't mean you can be such an ass to your friends!"

"Ex-friends, Stephanie, _ex_-friends. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm outta here."

And with that, he snatched up his keycard and swaggered off, just like the motherfucker he was.

There was a pause, and then Carlos shook his head. "I don't know. I think he's been listening to too many Motley Crue songs."

James gave a shaky laugh. "I think one of us should've punched him – I mean, besides Camille. Maybe it would've knocked some sense into him."

"I'll do it," I volunteered eagerly. "He could use a good slap upside the head. This'll be fun!"

I made it the first few steps before James grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back to him.

"Oh no you don't, if anyone's going to be doing any punching of the Loganator, it's going to be me."

"Uh, no, it's going to be me," I argued. "I'm the one who he called self-centered."

"Yeah, but I punch harder than you."

"I beg to differ." And I sank my fist into his stomach.

He gave me the thumbs up sign as he toppled over. "How adorable!"

"It should be me who punches him," Camille launched in as James lay curled up in the fetal position on the ship's floor, moaning and clutching his stomach. "I'm the ex-girlfriend who got reminded of a mistake that she made when she was seventeen. Plus, if I may remind you, I got called a crazy bitch."

"Well, I'm the one who he pretty much dissed," Stephanie reminded her. "Plus, you already got to slap him. Let the rest of us have a turn!"

"Hey, he completely ignored James and me!" Carlos protested, and James gave a squeaky, indignant, "Yeah!" from the floor.

"So one of us should hold his hands behind his back while the other one of us punches him," Carlos finished up.

"No, no, no, this is what we do," I cut in. "Camille, you jump him and knock him down. You and Stephanie, keep him pinned down, and then James, Carlos, and I will come swinging at him."

There was a general pause, and then everyone nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Camille agreed.

"Me too," Stephanie added.

"Love the idea," Carlos said.

"Hear, hear," James groaned from the floor.

"Well, I guess I should go check on Jo," Camille said with a sigh, before saying to Mindy, "I'm Camille Roberts. Could I have my cardkey?"

"Sure, here you go."

Mindy handed Camille her key and Camille headed off to her room, leaving James (still holding onto his stomach while curled up on the floor), Carlos, Stephanie, and I alone.

"Carlos Garcia," Carlos stated to Mindy. "Which room am I – ?"

"You're in 2N with Stephanie King."

We all did double-takes. I had figured that I would be sharing with Stephanie and James and Carlos would be rooming together, not…Oh my God. There was no way. This was…this was such an obvious setup.

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "I mean, it's definitely Carlos and me together? So Katie Knight and James Diamond are roommates?"

"Yes, that's right."

Carlos stared at James and me, looking like he was mulling something over in his head. Carlos very rarely mulled things over, but when he did, he was usually spot-on. Great. All we needed now was a suspicious Carlos and the awkwardness would be complete.

"Could we have our keycards?" Stephanie stepped forward. "I'm Stephanie King."

Mindy handed Stephanie and Carlos their keycards, before looking over at James and me.

"Katie Knight and James Diamond?"

"That would be us," I admitted.

"You two are in room 2K. Here are your keycards. Have a nice cruise."

I took the keycards and hauled James to his feet. "Oh, stop complaining. I didn't hit you that hard. Anyway, aren't your abs supposed to be, like, rock hard or something?"

"I wasn't ready for it," he griped, swiping his keycard from me. "I hadn't braced myself."

I snickered as we began walking towards the stairs. "You are such a baby."

"Hey, it's not my fault you punch harder than the average nineteen year old girl," he said defensively.

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "And how many nineteen year old girls go around punching you?"

He smirked. "So far, you're the only one."

"Lucky me."

"Hey, that's the closest you've come to these – " he yanked his shirt up to show off his perfect washboard abs (AAAAAGH!) – " in a long time."

I rolled my eyes as we reached the second floor. "You are _such_ a man."

"I thought I was a baby."

"You are."

"So I'm a man and a baby at the same time. I'm a ban. A manby. A – "

"Shut up or I'll kick you in the balls."

"Wow, Katie, I thought you'd never offer. Just like old times, right?" he added with a wink.

I threw him a disgusted look while praying fervently that I wasn't blushing like crazy. "Masochist."

"Only when it comes to you, K-squared." Nice to know he's gotten his old charm back. I was getting worried there when he was being nice and sweet and polite.

We reached 2K and I stuck the keycard in the door. With a click, the door unlocked and I opened it.

The room was…well…small. I mean, not traditional-standard-fare-cruise-ship small, but still fairly small. There was one queen size bed, a TV, a dresser, a closet, a weird watercolor painting of a hill side hanging over the bed, and a bathroom.

No couch, no second bed, much less a second bedroom, no nothing. Oh my…

James glanced around. "This can't be right…"

But I knew it was. It had to be. The Replacement had made sure that we would have no choice but to sleep in the same bed together, something we hadn't done in three years.

James dashed into the bathroom. For a moment I thought he was going to vomit, but instead I found him checking out the bathtub. "Damn, not even big enough for a four-foot person to sleep in," he griped. "And there's not enough carpet space for even a midget to stretch out on."

"Face it, James," I said, stepping up to him. "The Replacement planned this. They want this to be as weird and awkward as possible. They're making sure we have to sleep in that bed with each other. They're giving us no other options. I bet if we cared to check, everyone else will be sleeping in close quarters with each other." I paused, thinking of Logan and Griffin, and then said, "Well, maybe not _such_ close quarters, but close enough so that there's really no way to get away from each other. The Replacement planned this all out well."

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and James jumped slightly too. We glanced at each other warily before pulling our phones out. They each vibrated four more times, before they finally settled down.

"Five new messages," I confirmed. "You?"

"Same."

"Open them on the count of three?"

"Deal. One – "

"Two – "

And then together: "THREE!"

I opened the message and felt my stomach nearly drop to the floor as I caught sight of the blocked number: _**Ahhhh, Katie, James, congratulations on the reunion! You two must be so thrilled to see each other! Yes Katie, you're right – I made damn sure that no one had any alternative to sleep anywhere else. But James – it was a nice try. But wow, this must be so awkward for you two! Imagine – you used to sneak around and bang each other behind everyone else's backs, and now, 3 years later, you're sleeping in the same bed again. Owwww! All I can say is: Have fun and be safe. And by "be safe" I mean there's protection – ahem, birth control – in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. There! Didn't your guys' cruise just suddenly get so much better? ;) Have a good time and don't be afraid to act out your guys' sexual tension! –The Replacement.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Wow! Only one text from The Replacement! How about that? So the main focus of this chapter was to kind of reunite everyone and kind of give you guys the impression of what their relationships are like, where they stand with each other. And sorry about Logan and Kendall being OOC, but there are reasons for that. And sorry if everyone else seemed to get along a little too easily. I just didn't want everyone fighting all at once. There should be plenty of arguments and fights along the way, but I just couldn't do that in this chapter.<strong>_

_**Aaaannnndddd...Katie and James, huh? Was it shocking, or did you guys see it coming from a mile away?**_

_**So...comments? Questions? Thoughts? I take 'em all. I might not answer your questions if they're dealing with stuff that'll happen later on, but if you're confused about something that I can clear up, I'll be more than happy to do so.**_

_**Now...let's talk the review button. It's bored. It's boring being a review button. It just hangs out all day, hoping someone will click it. So if you guys want to let it have some fun...I think you get the point ;)**_

_**So, it's 12:42 AM here, so I'm going to post this now...'Night :)**_


	5. Chapter 5 Here's the Catch

_**Chapter 5, ladies and gentlemen...chapter 5!**_

_**Disclaimer: Me? Own Big Time Rush? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh wow, that's funny! I don't have the money to own BTR, so noooo...I don't own them.**_

_**PopcornLover: Not a problem! And thank you for reviewing! I'm so sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, but hopefully it'll be worth it. Awww, thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it! :)**_

_**Tess: There's actually a short scene from Logan's POV in this chapter. It is EXTREMELY short, but hopefully you'll like it :) Thank you so much, and thank you for reviewing!**_

_**Jatie 4 ever: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! You're so sweet! That means so much! Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**ktsuzanne: Thank you very much! I'm happy you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reviewing! :)**_

_**AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS FAVORITED OR PLACED AN ALERT ON THIS STORY! Love you guys!**_

_**Okay, so it's 12:38 AM here, and I'm completely exhausted...I ended up going down to the local lake with a couple of friends, and parking was crazy. We ended up parking over in a nearby neighborhood, just inches from someone's property...I'm really glad my (Mom's) car didn't get towed...I'm pretty sure it was a close call though xD**_

_**Anyway, I AM SO, SO, SO, SO INCREDIBLY SORRY that it has taken me so long - over a week! - to get this chapter up! I've been wicked busy lately with friends and family, and this chapter came out very slowly. And I've said so many times lately in reviews that "yeah, I'm going to try to post the next chapter by this evening", and then I still didn't around to finishing it, so I'm sorry to all those people as well. But it's done now, so hopefully it's okay. It's more of a filler, but some important things do happen here, so it does have a purpose.**_

_**So I'll stop rambling exhaustedly now, and let you guys read the chapter.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 – Here's the Catch…<strong>

**James's POV**

**(May 2****nd****, Friday)**

"So…uh…which side of the bed do you want?" I awkwardly asked Katie, nervously running my fingers through my hair.

She glanced up from her phone (what kind of phone was that anyway? It looked like it had time traveled all the way from 2001) at my question. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Which side of the bed do you want to sleep on?" I repeated, and she blushed.

I remembered that she always favored the left side, but maybe that had changed in the three years since we had last slept in the same bed.

"I still sleep on the left," she said quietly, her voice sounding slightly detached. "Are you still on the right?"

I smiled slightly. "Yeah. So…uh…this room could be a lot worse. I mean, at least it's got a TV."

Katie snorted. "What are the chances we're going to be able to pick up any kind of signal when we're out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?"

"You negative thinker, you!"

She paused. "Do you think the room is booby-trapped or something?"

"I – you know, I would have thought that, except that with the last text, I got the impression that The Replacement is using us all for their sick amusement."

"Your point being…?"

"That The Replacement isn't going to kill or hurt us until absolutely necessary. They're probably watching from somewhere on the ship, maybe they're even one of the crew members or something, checking up on us to see what sort of catfights or scandals will come out of this. Thus the birth control – have as much sex as you want, just as long as The Replacement finds out about it."

She suddenly clutched my arm, eyes wide. "Hey…you don't think there's cameras or bugs or something set up in here, do you?"

I bit my lip. "There might be…But I don't – I don't know how they would work or anything like that. I don't even know if they would operate so far away from a satellite or digital signal."

"But then how is The Replacement hearing our every word?"

I shrugged. "Maybe they're listening at a keyhole?"

"Maybe…"

"Hey, let's go check to see what kind birth control The Replacement was kind enough to leave us."

She turned around to face me slowly, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

"Ummm…not that we're going to use it or anything," I quickly added.

"Oh puh-leeze, you've been totally undressing me with your eyes ever since you found out we'd be sharing a bed."

"I have not!" Okay, maybe I had. But it's not like it's my fault! She's beautiful, and, well, being around her was bringing up some old and really good (really, _really_ good) memories. Besides, is there anyone out there who can control their thoughts? Yeah. That's what I thought.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Are you going to go check in the medicine cabinet or not?"

I had a feeling that was just to shut me up, but I went ahead and headed into the bathroom. I stopped in front of the medicine cabinet, admiring my hair in the mirror doors as I paused, before opening them – and leapt back as a cascade of packages of condoms came tumbling down.

At the crashing sound, Katie came hurrying into the bathroom and found me leaning against the wall, just out of reach of the foil packages.

"Should I ask what happened?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I think somewhere on this ship, The Replacement is laughing their head off," I informed her haughtily, ignoring her question.

"Probably," she agreed, smirking slightly as she bent down to pick up a package of condoms. "Oh, look, Trojans. You want it?"

"I'm good, thanks."

Katie snickered and then proceeded to open the next cabinet. "Oh…wow…" There were four or five different types of birth control pills stocked high on the shelves, and attached to one of the bottles was a piece of paper. Katie ripped it from the bottle and read through it, before shoving it at me. "Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath.

I glanced at the piece of paper and winced: _**Hello James and Katie! I hope you two are doing all right. In fact, I hope you're doing better than all right, if you get my drift (wink, wink). So…the reason for the birth control pills, Katie? Well, that's one of the few things that I never managed to find out you: Which pill you're on. So I got a few different brands. Plus, there's a couple different types of Morning-After-pills, incase you aren't on the pill at all. So…enjoy yourselves! That's the idea with this after all. ;) –The Replacement.**_

Wow. Really? There was no doubt about it – the reason why Katie and I were sharing a room was for

The Replacement's sick amusement. Maybe there really were cameras in here, so that they could watch if we happened to get down and dirty…Or not. After all, if that was the case, wouldn't The Replacement just text us when they saw that we had found the birth control?

Well, however The Replacement was spying on us, there were more important things to worry about. Such as my body reacting when Katie and I had to sleep in the same bed that night. Oh, and the possibility of the DLS-S crashing into an iceberg. Those two things were pretty terrifying and urgent, and there really wasn't much I could for either…

* * *

><p><strong>Logan's POV<strong>

I paced in-between the two beds, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Who the hell did The Replacement think they were? I had my reasons for not wanting to have anything to do with anyone, and The Replacement knew that! Hell, they had caused some of that coldness towards everyone, with those stupid texts they had sent. I still couldn't believe that James and Katie had been sleeping together in the weeks before the band broke up.

"You're making me tired," Griffin informed me.

"How am I making you tired?" I snapped at him.

"I'm watching you. You're the most interesting thing in the room."

"Not my problem. Turn the TV on if you're so bored."

"Logan…We need to talk about why we're being forced to room together."

"I think the answer's pretty simple – The Replacement is sadistic and enjoys torturing me. You should be enjoying this."

Griffin sighed, resting his face in his hands. "Logan, I know you resent me, but this has to stop."

"No, it doesn't! I walked in on you three years ago, having sex with someone who wasn't your wife! I walked in on you having sex with our bassist, Brody! And then at our final album release party…That guy was drugged! Did you roofie his drink or what?"

"Do you really think I would do that?" Griffin snarled back at me.

"How the fuck should I know? And then…no one knows, you know. No one knows about your need for prostitutes."

"THEY WERE ESCORTS!"

"THEY WERE WELL-PAID HOOKERS!" I yelled back at him. Finally. After three years, I was finally getting to say what I had wanted to say to him ever since the time I had walked into Gustavo's office and found

him pounding into our notoriously gay bassist. I still had nightmares about that moment. "SOME OF THEM WERE YOUR DAUGHTER'S AGE! And…you propositioned Mercedes' boyfriend, I know you did!"

"I DIDN'T SLEEP WITH HIM!" Griffin roared back, leaping to his feet.

"BUT YOU WOULD'VE IF HE WASN'T STRAIGHT! AND HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET BRODY ONTO GUSTAVO'S DESK? DID YOU THREATEN TO FIRE HIM?"

"DO YOU REALLY HAVE SUCH LITTLE FAITH IN ME?"

"YES! BECAUSE I KNOW YOU WERE HAVING ME WATCHED, EVEN AFTER THE BAND BROKE UP! YOU WANTED TO MAKE SURE I WOULDN'T TELL ANYONE THAT YOU'RE BISEXUAL AND THAT YOU SLEPT WITH OUR BASSIST, SOME RANDOM DRUGGED DUDE, MALE PROSTITUTES, AND THAT YOU HIT ON YOUR DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND! YOU ARE SICK, GRIFFIN! YOU KNOW THAT? YOU ARE _SICK_!"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" Griffin spat back at me. "I'VE GONE THROUGH COUNSELING, THROUGH THERAPY!"

"So you're no longer some weird, creepy pedophile?" I snapped. "Does Mercedes know about your past? Or Mrs. Adelia Griffin, the woman who loves to redecorate your house and bake you your favorite pies?"

Griffin's face paled and his cheeks tightened. "How would I ever tell them?" he whispered. "How would I ever tell them about who I am – who I was?"

"How should I know?" I hissed. "You were the one who liked young men – boys, really – not me."

"But it's all in the past, it's all a memory!" Griffin insisted. "I'm not that person anymore!"

"I hope for your sake that you're not," I snarled at him. "Because otherwise The Replacement is going to find out and use it against you. I know they are."

Everyone probably thought I was a jackass by this point. Yeah, I was, but I had my reasons. Everything I had accused Griffin of was true, and I knew that James and Katie had been sleeping together three years ago as well. And then there was the thing with Kendall and Mrs. Knight, and that time when I had gotten drunk off of spiked punch and hit on Stephanie. Thank goodness she hadn't reciprocated my actions, because otherwise I would owe Carlos big time. But I think I'm probably the one who scared her away from the Palmwoods. Not because I tried to rape her or anything, but I was pretty hammered and I came on strong. And The Replacement had hinted that Camille had had a secret that she was keeping from me as well.

It seemed like Jo, Carlos, and probably Gustavo and Kelly, were the only ones without some sort of secret. I had a pretty good idea that Stephanie had a huge secret as well as the one about me hitting on her. But I could be wrong about Carlos and Jo. Who knew what they had been up to since I had last seen them? Who knew what was going on in Carlos's life while we were still in LA? Who knew what Jo had been doing over in New Zealand and Europe in the last few years? I didn't even want to think about

it.

But The Replacement was making that very hard.

I slammed into the bathroom and locked the door, huddling against the sink. This entire thing was more than messed up.

My phone beeped and I hesitantly pulled it out. Great. More text messages. I opened them up and saw the blocked number. The Replacement.

_**About time someone finally confronted Arthur Griffin about his behavior! It was absolutely atrocious, and everyone paid for it without even realizing it! Oh, but one other person did…Jo Taylor. You might want to ask her about why she ended up in New Zealand. The answer might surprise you. Tsk, tsk, tsk. So many of these secrets are sexual. But…have you ever noticed how Gustavo does EVERYTHING Griffin tells him to? I know, I know, Gustavo always said it was because Griffin was "the CEO of all of your guys' butts", but could there be another reason? Ahhhh, the lovely etiquette of modern-day Hollywood. Isn't it just grand? –The Replacement.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

So, what was in the third cabinet, you may ask? Guess. Sponges. The birth control kind, not the foamy kind. I'm telling you, I think The Replacement was planning on filming a sex tape of James and me. Well, either that, or else they had another perverted reason. Either way, I was pretty sure anything sexual between us (hah! Yeah right!) would be exploited somehow.

James lounged on his side of the bed, watching TV. "Check it out, Katie!" he called to me. "_Gossip Girl_ is on!"

_Gossip Girl_ used to be my guilty pleasure. It still is, as a matter of fact. But…the very real experience of having a very real stalker was becoming really creepy. So the idea of _Gossip Girl_ watching and reporting on everyone just wasn't so appealing at the moment. It would be a bit like watching _Pretty Little Liars_, only maybe not quite as bad. Well. At least I wasn't having an affair with my English teacher.

Oh no. I had just slept with my older brother's best friend at the ripe old age of sixteen. Yeah, I was as innocent as a girl scout. A girl scout on marijuana, that is.

I snorted as I walked over to James and plopped down on the bed next to him. "Since when do you watch _Gossip Girl_?"

He shrugged. "Are you kidding me? The sex? The scandals? The clothes? _The sex_?"

I snickered. "I'm glad to see your reasons for watching it aren't shallow at all."

"Katie, did I mention _the sex_?"

I eyed him. "You're even hornier than you were when you were sixteen. I'm a little worried about being on the same bed as you."

James rolled over to face me, smirking. "Then why haven't you moved?"

"I'm a risk-taker."

I swear, I only blinked for a second, but the next thing I knew, I was being pinned down to the mattress by James.

"This is what you get for not wearing your parachute," he whispered, holding my wrists above my head, lips centimeters from my ear. I wiggled under him, more for show than to actually escape, and his smirk widened.

"Next time I'll bring a trampoline to catch me," I retorted, trying to keep my voice cool and unaffected, but the effect was ruined by the fact that my breath was coming out in short gasps. So much for acting totally cool and calm. Crap.

And then it hit me. I had free fallen, and nothing had caught me, until I had hit the (hypothetical/virtual) pavement hard. He had betrayed me. HE HAD FUCKING BETRAYED ME! And he thought he could just waltz in and hold me down and smirk and blink those huge, beautiful, hazel eyes at me and everything would be okay? What was I? One of his stupid slutty girlfriends? Well! I wasn't going to stand for it!

I kneed him in the stomach and he let out a hoarse gasp and rolled off of me. "Katie – what the hell?"

"That's for being a fucking man whore! And no, James – I haven't forgiven you!"

"Katie…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you think everything was cool? Sorry, I think I gave you the wrong impression…like you did to me when you told me I could trust you!"

And with that reel, I leapt off of the bed and crashed into the bathroom, throwing the door shut behind me. I locked it and leaned against it, shaking. The memories were beginning to hit me with the speed of a train:

"_**Katie…" James whispered as he laid next to me on his queen sized bed, gently moving a strand of hair out of my eyes.**_

_**I turned my head to look at him, smiling blissfully. "Yeah?"**_

"_**I love you."**_

_**I felt my smile widen as my stomach swooped and my heart picked up its pace. "I love you too."**_

_**()()()()**_

"_**James? What's wrong?" I asked as he slammed into the apartment, eyes blazing.**_

"_**Oh…Katie…It's nothing…"**_

"_**James? What happened? Are you guys fighting again?"**_

_**James let out a long sigh as he sank down onto the couch beside me. "Yeah. I don't know K-Squared. I think the band might be breaking up soon."**_

"_**But…but…the band can't break up!" I protested. "It's what keeps everyone together! It's your guys' dream! And…what about us?" The last sentence came out soft and weak, like I was scared to say it, and in a way, I was.**_

_**James stood up and pulled me to my feet, before wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me to his body. "It'll be okay," he said. "I promise you now, Katie, that whatever happens, nothing will ever tear us apart. I will never leave you."**_

()()()()

I was pulled from my memories by my phone vibrating in my pocket. Oh no.

I got my phone out and flipped it open. Yep. The Replacement had thought it would be fun to send me a torturous text message:_** Hey there, K-Squared ;) Wow, things got pretty steamy between you and James, huh? But it's good that you're standing up for yourself. I bet it felt good, getting all of that off your chest after three years. But hot damn…Things could have gotten pretty heated there…Ah, well, there's still plenty of time for you two to kiss and make up, if you get my drift (hint, hint, nudge, nudge). –The Replacement.**_

My jaw dropped. Oh my gosh. There was no way The Replacement could not have known about James pinning me down on the bed just by listening at a freaking keyhole!

"JAMES!" I hollered, getting up off of the floor and yanking the door open. He was on the bed, head bowed over his iPhone. He looked up when I stormed into the room.

"Did you get a text message from The Replacement too?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"YES! James, there's no way that they could have known without – "

"Without watching us," James agreed, face grim.

"So that means there really are cameras set up in here."

"But where?"

Before I could answer that, a voice suddenly echoed through the room, down the hall, in the next room: "_We are about to set sail. Will every passenger please come to the front parlor? I repeat: Every passenger to the front parlor. Thank you."_

James and I exchanged long looks. Could we have just heard The Replacement's voice? Was it even

possible? The voice sounded like a normal man's voice…It was hard to believe that it could belong to some psycho delinquent.

"I suppose we better head down to the 'front parlor'," James said, using his fingers as quotation marks. "And…um…about what happened earlier…I'm…I'm sorry…I just…I missed you. It was just way too easy to get back into the old habit of things."

I waved his apology off. "It's not a problem. You're right – it was way too easy to fall back into the old rhythms. Anyway, I kind of freaked out on you, so…" I wanted to apologize, but the words seemed to be blocked by an apple-sized lump in my throat, and I knew why. I wasn't sorry, not in the least.

James pursed his lips and gave me a sad look, his large hazel eyes even bigger and pathetic. I immediately felt my heart begin to break, but I dug my heels in and fought to stay strong. I couldn't melt every time he flashed a puppy-dog look at me. I was no longer a sixteen year old girl. I was nineteen, and no longer naïve. Fine. Call me jaded. Call me bitter. Call me whatever you want. But I refused to let myself fall into the patented James Diamond Trap. He hadn't meant to break my heart, but he had, and it was just proof that The Great James Diamond, the womanizer, the lady's man, the infamous player, was not meant to be tied down by anyone.

"Come on." I tugged at his arm to get him to move, and we left the room, James locking the door behind us.

From down the hall, I saw Carlos and Stephanie exiting their room as well. I waved to them, and they both waved back, before joining us.

"So…uh, how's your room?" James asked as he pulled an all-too familiar black comb from his back pocket and began running it through his rich brown locks.

"Small," Stephanie answered immediately. "There's one queen-sized bed and nowhere else to sleep. What about your guys'?"

"The same," I replied. "I don't know how Mom's going to feel when she finds out I'm sharing a bed with James Diamond, International Player Extraordinaire."

"IPE," Stephanie cracked, acronym-ing my new title for James, and we both burst out laughing.

James and Carlos just gave us looks like we were crazy, and then Carlos launched into a rendition of this one insane stunt on his show, _Danger Deliver_.

While the boys talked, Stephanie touched my arm. "Maybe we could switch rooms. Like, say, we could share a room, and James and Carlos can share one."

"Wha – you're not thrilled about sleeping in the same bed as Carlos?" I teased her, waggling my eyebrows.

"Oh, I'm very thrilled," Stephanie assured me in a low voice as we fell behind the guys a few feet, "but I

haven't seen him in so long…it just feels like rushing things a little too much, even if it's strictly platonic."

I sighed. "I know how that goes."

"Hmmm?"

"Oh – it's nothing. Sure, let's ask the boys if they want to switch the rooms up a bit – "

A split second after the last word left my mouth, all of our phones vibrated at the exact same time. Oh no.

James and Carlos both groaned.

"Now what?" Carlos mumbled as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Can't we go five minutes without getting a text from The Replacement?"

Stephanie and I exchanged looks.

"I think Katie and I might have triggered the texts," Stephanie admitted. "We were talking about changing rooms to make things a little less…weird…"

I wiggled my phone from my jeans pocket as well and opened the new batch of texts: _**Oh Katie and Stephanie darlings! Would you really want to switch the rooms? Imagine the effect that could have on poor James's and Carlos's egos! They might feel incompetent and undesirable! Now would you really want to do that to those poor boys? Besides, it won't be nearly as much fun if it's just you two! There'll be less scandal, less drama, less...well, just less! Anyway, if you two aren't convinced, I'll be forced to enforce one of the rules for the DLS-S: No switching of rooms. Sorry girls, you're going to have to stay with your assigned roomies. But don't worry – it'll be fun no matter what…especially for me. ;) –The Replacement.**_

"Well," Stephanie deadpanned, "that's not creepy at all."

"_Incompetent and undesirable_?" James repeated hotly. "What the hell? This – " he did his jazz-hands move down his face and down the length of his upper body " – is very competent and desirable! Just ask Katie – on second thought, don't ask Katie. Haha, I don't know why I said that…Ummm…That was…stupid…"

I face-palmed as both Carlos and Stephanie raised their eyebrows at me pointedly.

"He just means his abs," I assured them. "Because, you know, I've seen them a billion times."

"Oh, right, of course," Carlos said with a reassured smile, but Stephanie didn't look completely convinced. No wonder. Considering that I had practically hinted that something had happened between James and me, and now James's own slipup, she was probably already beginning to put the pieces together.

"So…um…anyone know where the front parlor is?" James asked as we reached the lobby. We all looked

around, and my ears pricked up at the sound of low voices in the next room.

"I think it's that one."

I led the others into the room just behind the lobby, and sure enough, there were already three other pairs in there: Logan and Griffin, Camille and Jo, and Gustavo and Kelly.

Logan wasn't talking to anyone, but Camille and Jo were chatting, while Griffin was talking with Gustavo and Kelly.

"So wow, this is really happening!" Carlos proclaimed cheerfully the second we stepped into the room. Everyone turned to look at us at Carlos's proclamation.

"You can't _seriously_ be excited," Logan commented, his voice dry with an undertone of disgust. "We all got blackmailed and threatened into this cruise. I know you're not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but even _you_ should be able to tell that this isn't just your ordinary luxury cruise."

"That's no reason not to be excited – I mean, come on Logie, the cruise was – technically – free! And we're all together again."

"And if this is going to turn into a preppy, _High School Musical_ meeting, I'm outta here."

We all turned around to find Mom and Kendall hovering over the threshold. Well, that wasn't really correct. Mom had just crossed into the room, but Kendall was already spinning on his heel, about to do what he had just said he would do.

"Kendall!" Mom protested. "We're all supposed to gather here! You can't just leave!"

"Oh yeah?" he snarled. "Watch me!"

And that's when my little sister instincts kicked into high gear. I made a dash across the room and leapt onto Kendall's back, knocking him down to the ground.

"Ow – Katie – what the hell?"

"Now why does this seem familiar?" James muttered.

I stayed on Kendall's back, forcing him to lie on his stomach on the floor. Well, maybe it wasn't so much _forcing_ him to, as trying to keep him in place. He was tall and muscled from dancing for so long, and then playing hockey professionally for the past three years. And then there was me, small at not even five-two, weighing just a little over a hundred pounds on a bad day. And today was not a bad day for my weight. But even though Kendall could have easily thrown me off of him, he didn't struggle.

I pinned his arms behind his back. "Don't even _think_ about going anywhere," I hissed at him. "According to Logan, someone's secret is the reason we're all here – how do I know it's not yours and it's not your fault that we're all here? Man up, big brother, because otherwise I'm going to sneak into your room and paint flowers on your face…in un-washable paint."

Kendall snorted. "There's no such thing."

"Can you prove it?" I questioned. "Hmm, hmm? Where's the proof?"

Kendall grumbled under his breath, but finally said, "Fine. I won't run off. Just get off of me, Katie, I took a puck in the back during the last game."

"Ahhhh, poor baby, it must suck being you."

But I crawled off of him anyway.

Mom rushed forward and tried to help Kendall up, but he just glared at her and stood up stiffly, before stalking right past us into the main part of the room.

Wow. And things were going so well. The nerve of some people. Namely, my big brother. _Hmmph_.

I took Mom's hand and gave her a reassuring smile to remind her that she still had one child who didn't hate her, before tugging her away from the door.

The room was large, and reminded me a bit of a ballroom. The walls were painted a light, delicate gold, and the ceiling was a gold and white mosaic painting, while the floor was gold and white checkered. There were plush gold and white 18th century-style sofas lining the walls and low coffee tables with bouquets of flowers sitting neatly in them.

It was a pleasant room, very elegant, like the kind of room you might find in the Louvre palace.

A tall man with a head full of white hair and a captain's suit came into the room, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Hello, my good passengers!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "I am Captain Montgomery, and I will be maneuvering this magnificent vessel through the beautiful Pacific Ocean."

Apparently he hadn't heard that the only reason why people were on this cruise was because they had gotten blackmailed into it.

"This cruise will last for two weeks. During that time, you are free to enjoy yourselves and forget about the stresses of your everyday lives."

And be forced to put up with the stress of someone spying on our every move and then sending us creepy texts about our actions. Yeah. That was really going to help de-stress us.

"We have a ten-foot deep pool, a Jacuzzi, a steam sauna, a dry sauna, an indoor tennis court, an indoor basketball court, and a gymnasium, among other activities. Breakfast will be served from six-o-clock until ten-o-clock AM, lunch from eleven-o-clock until two-o-clock PM, and dinner from five-o-clock until ten-o-clock PM. Snacks will be provided between meal times, and our kitchen is always open. But you must attend meals with your roommate – it is mandatory. Otherwise, you are free to do whatever you like."

Hmmm…there must be a catch here…I know there's a catch…

"So…enjoy your cruise everyone! We will be setting sail in five…four…three…two…"

There was a loud horn blast, the sound of an anchor being drawn up, and the ship kicked off towards the ocean.

And so begins the next two weeks of our lives…And perhaps the last two weeks of our lives…

But if this ship sinks, I'm going to make sure The Replacement is there to go down with it. Preferably with the rest of us in lifeboats.

Captain Montgomery bowed himself out of the room, and the second he did so, there was a sudden wave of vibrating and beeping cell phones. Oh great. Just what we needed – another text from the ever-friendly, peace-loving blackmailer.

We all glanced at each other nervously before pulling our phones out.

"Oh my…" Mom breathed out as she read the new message.

"Oh no…" Camille muttered.

And here was that trap I was looking for: _**So, now that we have set sail, the festivities can begin! I have a wonderful surprise for all of you – well, at least, it's wonderful for me. It's not so wonderful for you though. :( In the next two weeks, you will all be trapped here, on the DLS-S Cruise, like sardines in a can. But at the end of the two weeks, there will be a little accident. Not one of you will live to get off this ship – or if you do, it will be parts of your bodies, floating in the ocean. Perhaps this doesn't come as a shock to some of you, perhaps all of you. Perhaps you were even expecting it. Well, now I'm just confirming your suspicions: You will all die in exactly two weeks on the DLS-S Cruise, by my hand. You should have never tricked me or pissed me off, and now you all will pay the consequences for what you did. But have fun! Enjoy yourselves! Live life to the fullest! And take a good long look at land, at civilization, because you will never see it again. –The Replacement.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ummm...so...how was it? Was it any good? Was it absolutely terrible?<strong>_

_**So, does that more or less explain Logan's behavior? This was my first time writing from his POV, so I'm hoping it was okay. And wow, The Replacement...talk about creepy...not too mention dangerous.**_

_**Anyway, the review button hasn't been exercised in over a week, and could really use a good workout. So...review? The review button would be super grateful, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! :)**_


	6. Chapter 6 Secrets, Clues, and Ice Bags

_**Ladies and Gentlemen, please give it up...Chapter 6! WHOOOO! Check it out! I finally got it up! I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sooooooo sorry for the wait, I've just been so busy lately. Plus...any Tayor Swift fans out there? My friends and I were invited by some other friends to her concert in Tacoma, WA on Tuesday! It was absolutely amazing! She's a fantastic entertainer, and she's got a beautiful voice live.**_

_**Okay, moving on...Disclaimer: No. I do not own Big Time Rush. Why would I be writing Jatie stories if I owned BTR?**_

_**Anonymous: Thank you so much for reviewing! Well, The Replacement's identity will be revealed eventually...probably ;)**_

_**PopcornLover: Thank you so much for your review! I'm so sorry for the wait, both for Chapter 5, and now for this chapter! Forgive me? Well, I've revealed one of Logan's secrets, but he may have more...;)**_

_**THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED, ALERTED, OR FAVORITED THIS STORY! I love you guys!**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6 – Secrets, Clues, and Ice Bags<strong>

**(May 2****nd****, Friday)**

**Katie's POV**

The entire room went spinning into chaos.

"OHMYGODWE'REGOINGTODIE!" Carlos screamed at the top of his lungs, just as the ship lurched forward, setting sail officially.

"_This_ is why we were all blackmailed into this cruise?" Jo snarled angrily. "So that we could all be killed? I knew The Replacement was sick, but I didn't realize they were _this_ sick!"

"Why?" Camille muttered, looking as if she was about to cry. "What did we do that was so horrible that we'd have to be killed for it?"

I didn't say anything. I just leaned against the wall, arms crossed, processing the confirmation of my worst suspicions. So. It was true. We were all going to be dead by this time next week. And how? When? Would we be picked off one by one, or would we be killed together? And more importantly…Could we get out of this mess?

"Whose secret brought us here?" Kendall spoke up, looking from Logan, to me, to Mom. "Whose secret is so fucking dangerous that we're going to get killed for it?"

No one spoke up or stepped forward.

"Here's my question," James said, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, his usually shimmering hazel eyes now steely and determined. "Are we going to be killed one by one, or all at once?"

There was silence as everyone waited for the usual buzz and beeping of our cell phones that signaled The Replacement answering James's question, but it never came. Great. Another mystery. Another way for The Replacement to torture us.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Logan said somberly, the first words he had spoken that hadn't been out of spite.

"So…uh…what do we do now?" Carlos asked with a slight whimper.

Stephanie walked over to him to put an arm around his back comfortingly, even though her face was pale and she looked every bit as scared and horrified as the rest of us.

Gustavo cleared his throat. "We try to figure out a defense strategy. There has to be something we can do to protect ourselves against this psycho."

"Yeah, but what can we do?" Kelly wanted to know. "This person is seriously powerful, or smart, or, I don't know, a terrorist. How are we supposed to stand up against them?"

"We'll figure something out," Gustavo said calmly.

"But we have no idea what The Replacement's got planned for us," Mom argued.

Griffin looked up from where he was now texting or playing games or doing some_thing_ on his iPhone. "We'll just have to figure that out as well."

Yeah, he's a real help.

In the end, we agreed to head back to our rooms and meet for dinner at eight-o-clock.

The second we were back in our room, James locked the door and pushed the only chair and the single dresser up against the door. "Just to make sure that _no one_ can get in here," he explained when he caught sight of my questioning look.

"That probably isn't going to stop The Replacement," I reminded him.

"Katie, The Replacement is still a human – a twisted, sick human – but still a human nonetheless. And do you really just want to lie down and let them kill us? We have to put up a fight. You know that better than anyone else. And I will be damned if I got blackmailed into this cruise just so that I could be killed by someone who wants to play God. My fucking car got blown up, The Replacement broke into my house to leave pictures of you with a threatening message, and then you and your mom almost get killed yourself! Oh, and someone shot at Jo while we were inside Gustavo's mansion. And someone's bugged his mansion and this room! I am going to make sure that we all walk off the DLS-S in two weeks, safe and alive, with The Replacement in handcuffs."

I paused, shocked by the revelation that I had been the one The Replacement had used to make sure that James got onto the ship – at least, that's what it sounded like had happened. But that couldn't be right. Sure, he cared about me, but that was it. There was no way he was still in love with me, not after three years and countless bed-buddies.

"The Replacement left pictures of me for you?" I confirmed. "But…why?"

James gave a harsh laugh and threw himself on his side of the bed. "Why do you think, Katie? Why were you and your mom almost blown up in your motel room? Why was Jo almost shot in the head? Why did my car explode? Kendall was being uncooperative so The Replacement decided to leave a warning for him – which is why you and Jo were almost killed. Gustavo refused to go on the DLS-S cruise, so The Replacement left a bomb in my car. I wasn't going to go on the DLS-S cruise either, so The Replacement though I could use some persuading. They left pictures of you on my bed, with a message, reminding me that they could very easily hurt you. You were used against both Kendall and me, and probably your mother too. The Replacement knows about our relationship, and they know that I'm still in love with you. They knew threatening you would convince me to board the ship."

My ears felt like they were ringing, and my vision seemed to be blurring. He was still in love with me? That made no sense. That just didn't mesh with the three year silence between us. But why would he lie to me? Think Katie…why do guys generally lie to girls?

I looked up into his hazel eyes, not sure what I would see, but all I saw was steely determination and anger. Hmmm…maybe he wasn't just trying to get into my pants…

Suddenly, the ship rocked from side to side even more violently then it had been quaking, and I knew we had hit open water. I stumbled and crashed into James. He grabbed me, trying to steady me, but the ship gave a huge lurch, sending us tumbling down onto the floor, with me on top of him.

"If you wanted to top me, all you had to do was ask," he quipped, his lips turning up in amusement.

"No, I just needed you as a mattress," I retorted, pushing myself up so I was sitting on his stomach, straddling him. His hands rested loosely on my waist, and he was smirking as if I had just agreed to go down on him. Ohhhh. He was enjoying this a little too much. Guys. Never thinking with their brain.

"You can let go of me now," I informed him. When he just tightened his grip on me, I did the only thing could think of, something that used to work beautifully. I reached over the length of his body and ruffled up his hair. He yelped and immediately let me go. I crawled out of the way, a split second before he leapt up and rushed into the bathroom to make sure his hair hadn't been completely ruined.

I managed to get to my feet, but collapsed on the bed as I began to roar with laughter. I really wish I had gotten that on video, because it was such a normal, yet epic, James Diamond reaction.

James came out of the bathroom with a very haughty expression on his face. "That wasn't nice," he pouted at me.

"Oh, poor baby," I teased him. "I see your hair survived my attack."

"Yes, but _barely_."

"Drama queen."

"I'm ignoring you now."

"All right, you do that."

There was a knock on the door. James and I glanced at each other warily. It was probably just Carlos and Stephanie, but after the announcement that we would all be killed on the DLS-S cruise, we couldn't help but be a little terrified at what might be behind that door.

"Just a second!" James called, and we gingerly walked over to the door, moving the dresser and the chair away so that we could unlock the door. James grasped the door handle, raised his eyebrows at me, and yanked the door open.

* * *

><p><strong>Kendall's POV<strong>

I sat on the bed, arms crossed, refusing to say anything when Mom would ask me a question or make a comment. Mom…That word didn't even feel like it fit her anymore. She had lied to Katie and me our entire lives about our father…What kind of mother even did that? So she hadn't liked the truth about him. Okay, fine. But she wouldn't even tell me what the truth was! All she had told Katie and me about our father our entire lives was that he had been killed in a car accident before either of us could remember him. And to top it all off, the name she had given us? Kellan Knight? The name of our father? Yeah. No such guy. At least, no one who had ever been married to our mother and had had two kids. I ought to know. I had checked on every guy in the United States with that name. Wasn't it bad enough to lie about your husband's existence, much less give your kids a false name so that if they ever found out that you're a lying bitch, they wouldn't be able to find the man they had once called "Daddy"? Now that was drastic.

"Kendall, sweetie," _that woman_ pleaded with me as she slid onto the mattress next to me, trying to slip her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, staring fixatedly at the wall.

"Kendall, I know you're angry with me about your father – "

I snapped around, snarling like a rabid bear. "How the fuck can I be angry with you about my father when you made sure I can't even _find_ the guy? What happened, Mom? You decide he wasn't perfect enough for you, so you up and left him?"

I jumped off of the bed and did a one-eighty turn to face her as she cried, "That would never happen! He _wasn't_ a good man! You don't know what I saved you and Katie from!"

Her eyes looked watery and her voice was thick and hitched, as if she was about to start crying, but I didn't give a damn. This was her own problem. She was the one who had gotten herself into this mess, and there was no way I was going to throw her a rope to pull her out.

"You're right! I don't know! And you want to know why? It's because YOU WON'T TELL ME!"

Tears were now streaming down her face as she got to her feet. "Honey, I'll tell you, but I want Katie to be there. And I don't want to do it when we're all so worried about being killed by The Replacement. I wanted to do it back at home."

"Well, you may not get the chance," I informed her snippily. "Because as you said, we'll all going to get killed by The Replacement."

"I'm on a ship with some of the best schemers and planners in the United States," Mom replied, smiling slightly. "I have faith in you, your sister, and your friends – "

"_Ex_-friends. We're not friends anymore, we haven't been friends for three years."

Mom face-palmed. "And you're not willing to put aside your differences in order to, oh I don't know, _survive_?"

I threw her a nasty look. "Don't lecture me. I'm still not talking to you, I won't talk to you until you tell Katie and me the truth about our father."

I headed for the bathroom door, seriously needing some peace and quiet with me and my thoughts, when Mom called after me, "She missed you, you know. Katie, I mean. She needed you. She's not going to let you back in very easily."

I spun around. "Who said I wanted to repair my relationship with her?"

"She's your sister, and she's not the one who lied to you most of your life. Believe me, you want her back in your life."

"I don't know if I do or not," I retorted snippily. "Not when she's so willing to go running into James Diamond's arms."

Mom sighed. "They were close when we were living in LA. He was like her surrogate big brother when you were busy with other things."

"He doesn't look at her like a big brother," I snarled. "He looks at her in a way no one should _ever_ look at my little sister! He looks at her like…like…like he's attracted to her or something."

"Is that a bad thing?" Mom asked softly. "He's such a nice boy – "

"You are not _that_ delusional! You and I both know that when it comes to James and attraction, it always means buh-bye clothes, hello bed. I'm using _bed_ in a general sense here, by the way. James has banged girls in every position, in every place imaginable. He even went so far as to fuck a girl on Gustavo's desk…" I paused. "I mean, you've gotta give him points for daring, but is that really the kind of guy you want to be attracted to Katie?"

"She's nineteen, Kendall, incase you've forgotten. She's had boyfriends. For all I know, she's already lost her virginity. I'd prefer to think that she hasn't…But she's a pretty girl. And she's not that thirteen year girl who came out with us to LA. She can take care of herself. But one thing I can tell you, Kendall Donald Knight, is that Katie will _never_ be interested in someone who sleeps around like James used to. She will never be interested in James."

"Whatever," I snapped. "I'm just saying maybe you should keep an eye on those two, make sure they're not doing what James does best behind everyone's backs."

Mom smirked. "You're worried that James will be _singing_ behind everyone's backs? Isn't that a bit paranoid of you?"

Oh yeah. What James does best is singing. But his second best skill is screwing girls.

In answer, I slammed into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I _did not_ need my mom suddenly making comments that sound like they're coming straight from Katie's mouth. I _did not_ need to worry about Katie and James sleeping together. And to top it all off, I _did not_ need to worry about the fact that in two weeks we would all dead.

And yet, I was still agonizing over all three topics. Unbelievable.

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

I was braced, ready for someone to point a machine gun at us. But nothing happened. No one was at the door. But…it appeared that a bag of half-melted ice had sprouted legs and walked from the galley all the way up to Katie's and my room, and then had collapsed in sheer exhaustion. I could see why. Bags of ice generally don't just get up and walk away, so the trip from the galley to the second floor of the ship must have been exhausting for it.

"Check it out, it must be our complimentary bag of ice – everyone's doing it nowadays, it's the new champagne," Katie proclaimed sarcastically.

"Who – the hell – why – "

"Only one way to find out," Katie said. "Let's see if there's a card or something attached to it."

I leaned forward and picked up the twenty-pound bag of ice and water. I lugged it to the bathroom and dropped it into the bathtub where it could melt in peace.

"Maybe if we throw the ice on The Replacement they'll melt," Katie suggested once she had joined me after closing and locking the door back up.

I snickered. "First we have to find out who The Replacement is. But after that, I'm totally game."

Katie stepped into the bathroom, rolling the ice bag over until… "AH HAH! There's a note here."

"Shouldn't the ink be running? I mean, the bag's soaking wet."

Katie ripped the note off of the bag and handed it to me. "It's encased in plastic."

Sure enough, there was plastic wrap coiled around the note. I quickly peeled it off so that I could get a good look at the note.

"Katie," I got her attention. "Listen to this: '_**Well Katie, James, things seemed to be heating up so much between you two that I thought you might appreciate some ice – to help cool down a little. ;) –The Replacement.**_'"

I finished reading and Katie immediately ripped the paper from my hands. She scanned over it before glaring around the room wildly. "ALL RIGHT YOU FUCKING VOYEUR! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES! WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT AND FACE US INSTEAD OF HIDING BEHIND YOUR TWISTED NOTES AND TEXTS!"

"Ummm…Katie…" I coughed out uncomfortably. "That might – um – not be the best idea…Do you really want to invite The Replacement to come and kill us?"

She paused. "Oh…I didn't really think about that."

I face-palmed. Of course she didn't. She had one hell of a temper, and when we were together, she often said and did things that she didn't mean. Granted, it usually led to really hot sex, but that wasn't the point. Especially since there was no way she was going to sleep with me in the biblical sense now.

"You know, this just keeps getting creepier and creepier," Katie commented as she stared at the bag of ice. "I mean, now The Replacement's sending us 'gifts' – " she held her fingers up in quotation marks – "to remind us that they can see everything we're doing."

I had to agree – that was extremely creepy. Well, that's what we get for having a stalker who's planning on killing us at some point during the next two weeks. _Stalker_…it felt almost foreign in my mind. I had been stalked by teen girls before, but this was completely different. This was…this person…wanted to kill my friends (ahem – _ex_-friends) and me, for some inexplicable reason. They had blackmailed us onto this cruise, trapped us on the ship, and then announced cheerfully that they were going to kill us all. This was just…I couldn't even describe it. It just didn't compute. It didn't make any sense. Nothing did. Nothing.

The rest of the afternoon and the evening dragged by slowly, slowly. It wasn't until nearly seven that Katie's and my phones both vibrated to let us know that we had a new message from The Replacement. As per usual, my stomach clenched, but I opened the message anyway. It was brief, and the tone was general, meaning that it had probably been sent out to the other imprisoned-passengers: _**Hello to all! Just a quick note – dinner will be formal. I.E. formal wear, manners, etc. Plus – there will be an after-dinner surprise. At 9:30 PM, please proceed to the Captain's cabin. Enjoy your meal! –The Replacement.**_

Well, that was a little less creepy than the other messages.

I dug out my nicest pair of jeans, a white button up shirt, and a red and black skinny tie from somewhere deep in my luggage and changed in the bathroom while Katie dressed in the bedroom. I rolled the sleeves of the shirt up to my forearms, and combed my hair, re-gelling it to make sure it stayed perfect and glossy.

When Katie called to me to let me know she was ready, I stepped out of the bathroom and nearly fainted. She looked beautiful. She was in a black, shimmering strapless dress with a bubble hem and gold stiletto sandals. Her long brown hair was pulled back in an artfully messy ponytail, and her makeup was noticeable, but subtle.

She held out a simple silver chain with a small heart dangling from it. "Can you help me with this?"

I took the necklace from her and she moved her ponytail out of the way. I slid the chain around her neck, carefully, my heart beating erratically as my eyes focused on the back of her neck. My God…memories…

I managed to hook the necklace on, and stepped back. "There you go."

She let her ponytail drop and straightened the necklace out instinctively. "Thanks," she said with a small smile.

"You look…really gorgeous, Katie," I told her sincerely.

"Thanks," she said again. "So do you. Nice tie by the way."

I fiddled with it. "You gave it to me for my nineteenth birthday," I mumbled. "It's my favorite one. I always wear it for luck."

"Well, we're all going to need some luck during the next two weeks," she agreed. "Come on, let's go down to dinner."

The dining hall, or room, or whatever you want to call it, was huge; long with a single ten foot table draped in white set up in the very center of the room. The room was decorated like the ballroom, in gold and white, and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Kendall, Mrs. Knight, Gustavo, Kelly, Griffin, and Logan were already there, seated stiffly around the table. No one was saying much. Well, let's face it, what was there to say when someone was trying to kill you and said person was probably currently listening in on you? It made for awkward conversation.

I'm not sure how long we had been sitting there when Jo and Camille arrived. Camille slipped down into the chair next to Logan automatically, and Jo took the empty seat between Kendall and Logan. Neither boy looked at their ex. Man. Talk about douches. Was it really so hard to utter a simple "hey, how's it going?"

Carlos and Stephanie arrived finally. Carlos sat down next to me, although Stephanie sat down next to Katie, probably to whisper and giggle about Carlos or something. I mean, just because we were going to die unless we managed to come up with a brilliant solution, we weren't going to just sit around like stones, waiting for The Replacement to take us out. If that were the case, Katie and I wouldn't keep on accidentally giving The Replacement opportunities to tease us and humiliate us. The stalker left a twenty-pound bag of ice at our door because they thought we needed to "cool off". That's a little embarrassing.

At 8:15, the first course – a small salad, consisting of iceberg lettuce, a couple of carrots, and cherry tomatoes with a small serving of Ranch dressing – arrived, courtesy of waiters in black tuxedo pants and white tuxedo coats. Where was The Replacement getting the money to pay for all of these people? I mean, the ship, renting a place at the dock, hiring people, getting the food, the birth control, the other necessities that I couldn't think of at that moment, and the means to kill us, had to be wicked expensive. They would be in debt by the time the two weeks were up.

Oh well. Sucks for them.

"Awesome," Carlos mumbled sarcastically through a mouthful of lettuce and salad dressing. "Rabbit food. My favorite."

The next course was a small bowl of beef bouillon.

It wasn't until the main course that we got actual food.

The waiters brought out platters of thinly sliced, perfectly cooked, roast beef, with a tureen of mashed potatoes, and a gravy boat filled with – can you guess? – beef gravy. There was also roasted carrots, decorated with slim slices of roasted onions.

I had to give The Replacement credit – they knew how to have a dinner party.

We ladled our plates up with food and dug in.

The food was absolutely amazing, perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, nothing too much or too little. I wondered who the cook was. If we ever managed to get off this ship in one piece and alive, I was going to hire them on to cater for me full time.

It was nine-o-clock when the plates were cleared, and the waiters brought out a chocolate cheesecake. I won't lie. The chocolate cheesecake was amazing, the best I had ever had, and I'd had some damn good chocolate cheesecakes. Despite our impending doom, I still managed to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible.

Camille stretched lazily once she had finished her slice. "Damn, I'm going to have to work out extra hard tomorrow if I want to be able to fit into my new pair of jeans – they're size two, people."

I nodded and grinned appreciatively at her problem, while the others just rolled their eyes.

"What?" Camille asked defensively. "If I'm going to die, then I'm going to look fabulous doing it."

I held out my hand so that we could fist bump. "There's the spirit."

Katie rolled her eyes. "You two are so vane."

"Yeah, but we're gorgeous, so it's perfectly acceptable."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"What the hell is that?" It was the first words Kendall had said the entire evening, and it caught everyone' s attention. A piece of plastic-covered paper was embedded into his slice of cake. He pulled it out and ripped the plastic off.

"What does it say?" Logan asked tightly.

Kendall cleared his throat and read aloud: "'_**So here you all are, together again, after so long apart. Here's the first clue as to who brought you here: He's the one who broke the little girl's heart, left her bruised and bloodied in a torn dress, fractured with a missing part, life crumbling as she put her innocence to rest. Her dream was yanked brutally away, by a single man's mistake, and now that price is about to paid.**_

_**Hope this helps…or doesn't. –The Replacement.**_'"

"So…ummm…_does_ this help?" Jo spoke up, frowning. "I mean, it sounds like this guy raped some poor girl. Who in here has raped a girl?"

Everyone turned to stare suspiciously at each other, eying each other skeptically, but no one stepped forward to say, "Yeah, I'm the one The Replacement's talking about, it's my fault you guys are here and are going to get killed. Sorry about that."

I knew it wasn't me, I knew that much. The girls were probably out, especially since they all seemed so horrified at the idea of another girl getting raped, not that I blamed them. I was pretty horrified myself What if it had been Katie instead of that poor girl...? But then that left Carlos, Logan, Kendall, Gustavo, and Griffin in the running for Rapist Aboard the Ship.

My stomach churned at the idea of one of them overpowering and forcing themselves on a girl. That just…that wasn't a pleasant thought.

Logan seemed to be glaring furiously at Griffin, but neither one of them said anything.

At last, Mrs. Knight cleared her throat. "We should probably go to the cabin now, see what that surprise is."

Without a word, we all stood up as the waiters came back to clear the table. Mrs. Knight grabbed one of them and asked for directions to the Captain's cabin, before nodding in satisfaction and leading us out of the room, and down the hall. It was a long walk, all the way to the other end of the ship, just under the control room.

Just as we reached the corridor that trailed to the cabin door, a loud BANG echoed through the walls.

"Oh my God," Katie breathed out. "That sounded like – "

"A gunshot," Jo nodded, eyes bugging out in horror. "Oh my Lord."

We broke out into a run, nearly slamming into the door. I fumbled with the doorknob, finally managing to turn it, and shoved the door open.

"Oh fuck…"

Captain Montgomery, the jolly, cheerful man who had greeted us just a few hours previously, was sprawled in a swivel desk chair at a large, mahogany desk, neck limp, face pale, eyes wide open and glassy in terror. A bloodstain spread through his coat, and at the floor, next to his feet, was a small, black, shiny gun.

Blood slowly dripped down onto the floor, but the captain never moved.

Logan's doctor instincts took over and he crossed the room and knelt beside the man. He held his fingers to Captain Montgomery's wrist, and then to his neck, checking for a pulse. After several seconds, he shook his head.

"He's dead."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Wow...anyone see that one coming? Or was everyone expecting it? Either way, how'd you guys like the chapter? How'd you like Kendall's POV? Did I do okay on it?<em>**

**_Sorry if the ending seemed a little rushed, I was trying to get it done with and posted before I go to bed. It's 12:44 AM right now, so I think I'm going to post this now. :)_**

**_But...incase I don't get the next chapter up by next Sunday, classes start for me next Monday, so I might not be updating as frequently (if you can call once a week, frequent). But I don't know what the homework's going to be like, so we'll see. Anyway...the review button's lonely and bored and could really use some company. Click on it, and it'll be very, very happy, and I will be very, very happy for it :)_**


	7. Chapter 7 Guess Who Gets Around

_**Chapter 7 exists! It actually does! Are you shocked? I'm shocked!**_

_**Disclaimer: It's sad...it's tragic...it's horrible! *Sniff* I do not own Big Time Rush! Goes off into a corner to cry.**_

_**Anyway...It's been...what...three weeks since I last updated? I'm so sorry! I've just been so busy lately! Classes started up again, and I've been hanging out with friends and I've been working on other stories (Jatie, of course;)), but I finally got this done! Yay!**_

_**PopcornLover: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you're enjoying it! And thank you for reviewing :)**_

_**Jatie 4 ever: Thank you so, so much! Awww, thank you! That means so much! You're so incredibly sweet! 3 (that's a heart). Kendall's not really blaming Katie, he's just angry. And as for Mrs. Knight...you'll find out eventually ;) Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the Jatie in this story. Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has alerted or favorited this story (or reviewed)! I love you guys soooo much! You're all so amazing :)**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7 – Guess Who Gets Around<strong>

**Katie's POV**

May 1st, Friday, 9:31 PM

There was compete silence as we all took it in Logan's announcement. Captain Montgomery was dead. He was dead. As in D.E.A.D. Dead. The man who, just a few hours ago, had been bouncing around the ship, introducing himself, letting us know the schedule for the cruise, with no hint of suspicion. He hadn't seemed to have a clue that something besides just a regular cruise was going on.

And now here he was. Sprawled in his chair, with a bullet through his heart.

"What do we do?" Carlos whimpered, clutching James's and Stephanie's arms. "He's – he's – he's dead! What do we do now?"

"Call the police," Logan answered immediately.

"We can't!" Gustavo yelped. "You remember in the letters – we get the police involved – "

"Certain people die," James said with a nod. "That doesn't matter now, we're going to die no matter what."

I dug out my phone from my purse and dialed 911…and let out a scream. "Hello, my dears," said a deep, smooth voice with a hint of computer-generation. "So you have decided to go the street route and try to contact the police. Sadly, though, all communication out from beyond the ship has been blocked, which means, it is impossible to contact anyone back home. It was a nice try though. Well, I'm out. And I think you can guess who I am. But if you can't…I am _**The Replacement**_." And the recording ended.

I turned to the rest of them. "The Replacement blocked all outgoing calls. They – I guess it's a 'he', the voice was male – left a voice message, and identified themselves as The Replacement."

Kendall punched his fist into his hand. "Of course he did! We should've known!"

"So we know The Replacement is male at least," Logan said, going into logic-mode. "So we can rule out any females who might want to harm us."

"Yeah, that's comforting," Kendall muttered.

"Hey, it should be!" Logan roared. "We can rule out girls, like Sandy, for instance. Remember, the psycho who thought she was your girlfriend? And any of our exes?"

"It's true," I piped up. "James had a lot. What about that manic depressed actress who he took to prom?"

"I don't think she had enough energy or enough of a brain to plan something this intricate," Logan admitted.

"That's true," James agreed. "I mean, whoever came up with this was a freaking genius. A deranged genius, but a genius nonetheless."

"They're probably watching us right now," Jo spoke up. "I mean 'he'. _He's_ probably watching us right now."

"Yeah, he's got cameras up all over the place, right?" Stephanie said.

"He's probably laughing at us right now," I groaned. "Great. Just fantastic."

"Should we do something with the captain's body?" Gustavo asked, sounding slightly queasy.

"I don't know what we would do with it," Logan admitted. "We need to dispose of it in some way, but…"

"There should be a proper funeral service," Camille finished for him.

Griffin groaned. "And how do you suggest we do that? Anyone bring an extra casket with them?"

"Sure, I'll go fish it out of my luggage along with my life raft," Logan snapped.

"Hey, you're the one who – "

"We just have to be creative!" Kendall interjected. "Otherwise we're going to have a rotting body onboard the ship. I'm not Doctor Logan Mitchell, but I suspect that might not be a healthy living environment."

Logan sneered with him. "And you would be right, player number five."

Kendall glowered at the mention of his jersey number. "You're the genius. Come up with something to do with Captain Montgomery."

"And how do you expect me to do that when you're breathing down my neck?"

"You're a doctor, aren't you supposed to be all calm and cool and collected?"

"You are purposefully aggravating me!"

"Fucking live with it, just like I have to live with the knowledge every day that my best friend fucked my girlfriend!"

There was a sharp intake of breath from every corner of the room. Whoa. No one had suspected that.

"What are you talking about?" Carlos asked, every bit as confused as the rest of us. "Logan had sex with Jo? When?"

"Remember when he took that trip so he could go to that Young Medics convention in New Zealand?"

"Yeah…"

"He was in the same hotel that Jo was staying in. I flew out there to surprise both of them, and I found him in her room, passed out in her bed, in just his boxers!"

"And for the last time, nothing happened!" Logan roared at the same time Jo screamed,

"I can't believe you still think that I would actually sleep with Logan!"

Logan paused. "What's wrong with sleeping with me?"

"Well," she answered uncomfortably, "you're not really my type."

"So you'll only sleep with someone who looks like Kendall? Congratulations, that means there's about three or four other people out there who look like him."

Kendall frowned. "Wait a minute – there's plenty of people who are tall and blond with green eyes."

"I was talking about your eyebrows."

"_What's wrong with my eyebrows_?"

"They look like caterpillars who have a tendency for tanning salons."

"Hey, at least they have personality! What can you say about your appearance that has personality, hmmm? I'll tell you what! Nothing! Hah! Why Jo would ever want to sleep with you – "

"I didn't sleep with Logan!"

" – is beyond me, but – "

"Hey!" Camille jumped in. "He's got an adorable crooked smile that has plenty of personality!"

"He looks like his mouth's broken!"

"Hahahahaha soooo clever!" was Logan's equally witty retort.

"What are we, five?"

"Well, you're acting like it!"

"You had sex with my girlfriend!"

"Correction – _ex_-girlfriend, and no I didn't!"

"Oh puh-leeze, like I'm really going to take your word for it – "

"HAVE YOU ALL GONE INSANE?" I screamed. The four arguing twenty-one year olds turned to look at me. "YOU'RE ARGUING WHILE WE HAVE A DEAD BODY RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, AND A STALKER IS PROBABLY WATCHING US ON CAMERA RIGHT NOW! _SNAP OUT OF IT_!"

There was a pause, and then everyone took a step away from each other.

"You're right," Jo said softly, twisting her hands ashamedly. "We were acting really petty."

Camille nodded. "Yeah. We'll behave now."

"Speak for yourself," Logan snapped, crossing his arms across his chest. "Kendall's the one who goes around making false accusations."

"I saw proof – "

James cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH CAPTAIN MONTGOMERY'S BODY?"

Logan bit his lip. "There's really nothing we can do, except drop him into the ocean, but somehow, that just doesn't seem right. If he's going to be lowered into the ocean, it should be properly, with a memorial service, not just pushed overboard."

Mom cleared her throat. "Why don't we decide tomorrow?" she suggested. "We'll all go to bed and think on it."

"We should lock the door, so no one but us can get in – we don't need the staff jumping overboard with fear," Logan added. He fumbled around in the desk drawers, trying to maneuver awkwardly over the Captain's body, and finally extracted an old-fashioned iron key ring, with keys the size of doorknobs dangling from it.

He tried several of the keys out before finally selecting the right key for the door's lock. He locked the door behind us, and we all headed back quietly towards our rooms.

Mom, Kendall, Jo, Camille, Gustavo, and Kelly continued up to the third floor, leaving me with James, Carlos, Stephanie, Logan, and Griffin.

"I'm going to bed," Griffin announced. "If I don't get my eight hours of sleep, than I can't function properly." With that announcement from the fourth most powerful CEO in America, he walked down the hall to his room, leaving us three standing out in the open.

Logan glanced at us. "Which rooms are you guys in?" he asked stiffly.

Carlos immediately brightened up at the question, even if Logan's tone was less than friendly. "Stephanie and I are in 2N," he said cheerfully, "and James and Katie are in 2K."

Logan immediately started laughing. "James and Katie are sharing a room?" he choked out. "Does Kendall know?"

James shifted his feet awkwardly. "Ummm…we haven't actually mentioned it…"

Logan's laugh got louder. It had already sounded dry, but now it sounded bitter to boot. "Of course

not! No one ever tells anyone anything around here! With us, it's just lie, lie, lie, one after another."

Carlos frowned, pouting. "I haven't lied," he protested.

"You and Kelly are the only ones who haven't, as far as I know," he said, causing James's, Stephanie's, and my heads to snap around to stare at him. As far as he knew…?

"The Replacement filled me in when he sent me my letter," Logan explained. "I have pictures, texts, e-mails, Facebook messages, etcetera that are all very damaging." He threw a dirty look at James and me, as if he…Oh God. He knew. He knew about our relationship.

Stephanie crossed her arms and glared at him. "You are so judgmental, when I know for a fact that you're not as perfectly innocent as you would have us all believe. We both know what I'm talking about."

Logan's face went white. "That was an accident."

"Sure it was. Just a _slip_ of your wrist, a quick _flick_ of your fingers."

"I had nothing to do with that!"

"Really? Because I could have sworn you were the one who – "

"Yes?" Carlos spoke up eagerly, and then smacked himself in the face as Logan and Stephanie turned to look at him. "I mean…I didn't say anything!"

But it had brought them back to reality.

"I'm going to bed," Logan huffed.

"Me too," Stephanie snapped.

Carlos threw James and me a scared look before following Stephanie into their room, while Logan stomped down the hall to his and Griffin's room.

James shrugged at me before leading me down to our room and opened the door.

"After you milady," he said in a really horrible British accent, bowing me in.

"You need to work on your accents," I informed him, but stepped into the room anyway.

James closed and locked the door and surveyed the room. "Soooo…crazy day huh?"

"Yeah," I agreed, rubbing my eyes. I was completely exhausted.

"Hang on – what's that?" James pointed to the very center of the bed, where a folded piece of paper lay, held down by something wrapped in silver foil.

"I don't know – "

James crossed the room and I followed him. He scooped up the paper and the piece of foil. "It's chocolate," he said with a frown. He turned it over and found a name on the foil. "From that chocolate place in LA that you used to love so much – Matisse's, do you remember? I used to…" he broke off. He used to buy me chocolate there when we were dating. I mean, he would anyway, but he used to buy it for me in the pounds and then leave little pieces for me on my pillow.

James handed me the chocolate and instead unfolded the paper. "Ahhhh. It's a nice little note from our favorite stalker. Listen to this: _**James, I just thought I should remind Katie how much you two used to be in love. And what better way to get to a girl's heart than with a nice piece of chocolate? Remember Katie, James still loves you, and I know you still love him. So why don't you just let him in(side) again? –The Replacement. **_Unbelievable." James finished reading and threw the paper back on the bed.

I unwrapped the chocolate. "Think this is safe to eat?"

"I wouldn't risk it – he's planning on killing us all, remember?"

I quickly tossed the chocolate away. It skidded across the bathroom floor, towards the bathtub.

James balled up the note and tossed it towards the small, tin garbage can.

"This is shit," he said. "He's playing with us, he's trying to get us to have sex so he can watch and tape it. Well, IT WON'T WORK!" he shouted to the rest of the room.

He threw himself on the bed, steam practically coming out of his ears. "Of all the – that was personal! That was just between us! How dare he do something like this!"

I sat down on the opposite side of the bed, on the edge. "I don't think The Replacement really cares what's personal or just between us."

James groaned. "I don't care what it takes, we are getting off this boat alive."

I laid down on the bed next to him. "Logan knows about us."

James turned his head, still lying on the pillow. "I know. So The Replacement told him everyone's dirty little secrets. I wonder what everyone else's are."

"It's probably best if we don't find out," I said softly. "Because otherwise they'll find out about us."

"True," he agreed.

"So…ummm…" I started.

"Yeah?"

"How do you want to do this whole sleeping-in-the-same-bed thing?"

"_**No clothes**_ aren't an option, right?"

"Nope."

"I stay on my side and you stay on your side?"

"That's better."

* * *

><p><strong>Stephanie's POV<strong>

I sat on the bed, listening to the shower run. I could smell the coconut shampoo that Carlos had always used, and I could hear him singing "Stuck": "There are so many things that I never ever get to say/Cuz I'm always getting tired of my words getting in the way/If you could read my mind/Then all your doubts would be left behind/And every little thing would be falling into place…"

He had always had such a beautiful voice, and I was so glad that he had had as much success as he had managed to. He deserved every bit of it.

I could still feel the rage seeping through my veins. I despised Logan. He had roofied me, and then…well, you get the picture. Of course, he said he hadn't roofied me, but that didn't change much. He was the one I woke up to the next morning. If he hadn't dropped the drug in my coke, then who the hell had?

Logan was supposed to be such a nice guy, but yet…Besides, it fit. He had gotten drunk and hit on me pretty heavily at the party. I remember him getting me a coke, and yeah, all right, I accepted it. Maybe that wasn't the smartest move, but drinks were going fast! What else was I supposed to do?

That's about all I can remember. The next morning I woke up in my bed, next to Logan, both of us very, very naked. He protested, yelling about something about being with Camille last night, but that was obviously crap.

I left the Palmwoods two days later and moved back to New York city.

I never cleared things up with Carlos. I didn't want anything to do with Logan, and if you got Carlos, Logan came with the package.

I never told my dad what had happened. He just thought someone had been making my life difficult, and he hadn't really wanted to move out to LA in the first place. He was more than thrilled to move back to NYC.

I heard the shower turn off, and just as my phone vibrated, Carlos stepped out of the bathroom in sweats and a tank top.

"So…ummm…" he began. "Which side of the bed did you want?"

I shrugged. "I don't care, whichever side is fine with me. I'm gonna go brush my teeth," I added. I slid off of the bed and grabbed my phone, heading into the now steamed-up bathroom.

I shut the door behind me and sank down onto the toilet, opening the new text: _**Hey Stephanie! Wow, that was close with Logan, wasn't it? Doesn't your blood just boil, knowing that he got around with drugging and raping you? Don't you want to do something about it? Now's your chance… -The Replacement.**_

I set my phone down. What did he mean by "don't you want to do something about it? Now's your chance"? That sounded like…Did he want me to out Logan, or…kill him? Do his dirty work for him?

The idea chilled me to the bone? Surely…surely that's not what he meant…But why not? Why wouldn't it be? This guy was already using us to lure each other into the trap. Who's to say he didn't mean for us to kill each other as well?

What did I do? I may hate Logan with every fiber of my being, but I didn't want him dead, and I don't think I could kill anyone anyway.

Maybe…maybe I could just let the others know. I mean, it was obviously me that The Replacement had been talking about at dinner tonight. And of all the nerve…! Logan had just sat there, looking completely innocent and confused, when he knew what he'd done! How could he? He could have come clean then, but did he? Hell no!

I set my phone aside and reached for my toothbrush, squirting some of my toothpaste on the brush, before shoving it into my mouth ferociously, like it was Logan's head.

I finished brushing my teeth, grabbed my phone, and headed out to the bedroom, where Carlos was waiting, lying on top of the covers.

"Hey," he said. "You okay? You look a little…I don't know…upset."

"No, I'm fine," I replied, sitting down on my side of the bed.

"Stephie?" he asked, calling me by the nickname that he fashioned for me back when things were simpler.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad that you're here," he said. "I mean, I'm not happy about this whole thing with The Replacement or that we're probably going to get killed, but…it's nice to see you again," he finished quietly.

I paused. "We have two weeks, and a whole five years to make up for. I say we start right now."

Carlos smiled. "I like that idea." He reached over to me and gently cupped one side of my face, leaning in. He pressed his lips to mine, and I responded. His lips were warm and soft, just like him.

He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, panting slightly. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

I smiled back, shyly biting my lower lip. "I was hoping you did."

He grinned back.

This time, I kissed him, putting all my strength into it. His shirt came off soon, and before long he was ripping my own off.

"I love you," he breathed out, his lips hot against my skin.

"I love you too," I whispered back, tugging at his sweatpants.

"If we only have two weeks to live," he gasped out as he pressed me back against the pillows, "I'm going to make sure it's the best we've ever had."

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

I couldn't tell you how many times I had been in this position three years ago. I stood in the shower, letting the water drip down over my body as I prepared to head into the next room, where Katie was in bed.

My heart was hammering like crazy in my chest, and I couldn't get the images from our past…encounters…out of my head. I could tell you every position, every touch, every scream, every conversation, every kiss, that we had ever had during the few months we were together. They were the best of my life…But somehow I don't think she knew that. I never told her.

I finished rinsing off and turned the shower off. I pulled the curtain back and reached for a towel, wrapping it around my waist.

I grabbed another towel and rubbed it through my hair to dry it. I stepped out of the shower, and realized that…Damn.

I tossed aside the towel I had used on my hair and headed out into the bedroom. Katie was sitting cross-legged on the bed in black and white pajama bottoms and…

"That's the t-shirt I gave you for your sixteenth birthday," I said softly.

She was in a Simple Plan concert shirt. She had gone to their concert just before her birthday, but she hadn't been able to get a t-shirt, so I had tracked them down and managed to get my hands on one.

She blushed and adjusted the shirt. "It's just…it's comfy."

I didn't say anything to that, I just rummaged around in one of my suitcases, looking for a pair of sweats to wear to bed.

"It's nice to see you still have your washboard abs," Katie said quietly. I turned to look at her.

"What?"

She blushed an even deeper red. "It's…it's nothing."

I just smiled and snatched up a pair of boxer briefs and some sweatpants, and headed back into the bathroom to change.

When I came back out, Katie was pulling back the blankets. "You're not wearing a shirt?" she commented.

I smirked. "I wasn't planning on it. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Katie crossed her arms over her chest. "Does me not wearing a bra make you uncomfortable?"

Actually yeah, it did…just not where she meant.

"N-n-no, not at all," I stuttered out.

She smirked back at me. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same page."

I scowled. "I'm going to bed."

"Works for me."

We crawled into our separate sides of the bed, and I turned the lights off.

It took me about five minutes to realize how awkward and truly uncomfortable this was going to be. The last time I had been in bed with her…well…you can imagine what we were doing. We had fallen asleep in each other's arms, murmuring to each other. The next day was the day that everything fell apart.

We just lay there, not saying anything, not touching, not…well…doing anything. I could tell by her breathing that she was still awake, but I didn't know how to break the silence.

"Katie?" I finally said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm – I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry that all of this is happening."

"I'm sorry too," she said softly. "I'm sorry that you're going through this when everything was going so well for you."

"Only some stuff was going good," I replied. "Other things…A lot of it was never worth it."

In the dark, I could just make out her silhouette. She rolled over to face me and propped herself up on her elbow. "What wasn't worth it? What was bad?"

"I haven't been in love with anyone since you," I said quietly, and instinctively reached up to touch her

face. "I still love you Katie."

The next thing I knew, her lips were against mine and she was on top of me, her hair swinging down to shield our faces. Just like old times.

She moaned as my hands went under her shirt, my fingers running up and down her spine. I managed to move my lips from hers so I was kissing down her neck; in the process, I flipped us over so I was on top and she was on bottom.

"Ohhhh…" she groaned. "James…"

Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling slightly as I scraped my teeth against her collarbone and lapped my tongue over it to sooth the bite.

"Katie…" I moaned out, my voice husky.

And then she yelped in alarm. I fell back. "What's wrong?"

"I can't – we can't – The Replacement's watching!" she cried.

"Katie – " but before I could say anything, she had leapt off of the bed.

"I'm sorry James…I can't…This is too much like the last time!"

"Katie - !" but it was too late. She ran out of the room and slammed into the bathroom. Through the darkness, I could hear her sobbing quietly. I slid out of bed and pounded on the door, begging her to let me in, but she refused to answer me. I finally just went back to bed, trying not to cry myself. It was just too easy to go back to the way we were, but she was right – we couldn't. We had too much to work through, and too much to talk about. Plus, like she had mentioned, The Replacement was watching.

As if he could hear my thoughts, my phone suddenly lit up with a text. I grabbed it and opened the new one: _**Feeling left high and dry? Don't worry, she'll come to you before long. She'll need the comfort when she finds out just what her mother has been lying to her about for nineteen years. Until then…Do what you've always done. I'm sure there's plenty of pretty female staff who'll be more than happy to go down on you. Have fun! –The Replacement**_.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Once again, I am so, so sorry this took so long! Please don't hate me!<em>**

**_So...how was the chapter? What'd you guys think about Logan "raping" Stephanie? How about the last text from The Replacement? How about James's and Katie's kiss?_**

**_Let me know what you think, because I love hearing from you guys! Plus, you know, there's the review button. It gets really lonely, and it needs some love. If you press it, it gets a hug. :) So, ummmm...review and let me know what you think! :)_**


	8. Chapter 8  Hidden Scars, Hidden Secrets

_**So, after, what, nearly 2 weeks, Chapter 8 is finished! Can I get a WHOO WHOO?**_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah, I totally own Big Time Rush. Along with a yacht, a house in the Bahamas, and a ferrari...NOT! I do not own Big Time Rush, just for those of you who don't understand sarcasm.**_

_**PopcornLover: Oh wow, did you really reread the story four times? That's insane! Thank you so much! I'll think about your request...;) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**Jatie 4 ever: Everyone makes fun of Kendall's eyebrows, but I hadn't yet, so I thought I'd better so that I could jump on the bandwagon. ;) Awww, thank you! I'm so glad you like Carlos's character! Very true, if it wasn't for The Replacement, Katie wouldn't have freaked out over kissing James. Anyway, thank you so much, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**And THANK YOU to everyone who has alerted or favorited this story! That means so much!**_

_**I'm so sorry it took so long for me to get this up, but...I think you guys might forgive me...well, either that, or you will hate me and chase me around with torches and pitchforks. Either way...**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8 – Hidden Scars and Hidden Secrets<strong>

**James's POV**

**May 3rd, Saturday, 8:50 AM**

I have a deep resolution against waking up before 12:00 PM on Saturdays. However, that didn't stop me from waking up at eight the next morning. I laid there in bed for nearly an hour, just thinking. Katie lay beside me, burrowed deep under the covers. By the time she had returned to bed it had been nearly one in the morning. She hadn't said anything, she'd just slipped under the covers and kept to her side as far as she could.

I didn't dare touch her, even though I wanted to more than anything. But I didn't know how she would react. After last night, it seemed like any direct contact between us would be a horrible idea.

But that didn't keep me from propping myself up on one elbow to watch her sleep. She looked so beautiful and peaceful.

I don't know long I laid there, staring at her, but finally her eyes fluttered open. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily. "Mmmmm…James…What time is it?"

"About nine," I answered, glancing quickly at the digital clock on the nightstand.

She nodded and pushed her hair out of her face. "We should go down to breakfast then."

"Yeah. Katie…about last night…"

She crawled out of bed, but glanced over her shoulder at me. "Let's just pretend it never happened."

That hit me like a bullet right in the heart. I nearly doubled over with pain, but instead I just nodded, purposefully keeping my face blank.

"If that's what you want."

"It is."

And with those two words that practically knocked the wind out of me, she locked herself in the bathroom so she could take a shower.

I slowly got dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt, taking my time, trying not to imagine what Katie was doing in the shower. It was pretty bad when, three years after our relationship had ended, I still couldn't control my thoughts with her.

I ran my comb through my hair, making sure that it lay perfectly, and sprit-zed a tiny bit of Cuda manspray on.

The bathroom door opened and Katie stepped out of the steaming room, wrapped in just a towel. She didn't say anything, she just made a straight beeline for her duffel bag, searching for some clothes to

wear.

She finally extracted a pair of jeans, a cami, and a cropped cargo jacket, before going back into the bathroom to slip into her clothes.

"Ready?" she said as she pulled her hair back into a high ponytail.

"Yeah," I agreed.

We left the room and headed down to the dining hall where breakfast was being served. A buffet table was set up against one wall, where Logan, Griffin, Kendall, and Mrs. Knight were lined up. Gustavo and Kelly were already sitting at the table in the middle of the room.

Carlos and Stephanie weren't there yet, and neither were Camille and Jo, but no wonder. I had a feeling that after what had happened right after dinner, no one had gotten much sleep.

We joined the line, and soon ended up with plates filled with pancakes and eggs and bacon and toast. We sat down at the table in our designated spots.

Mrs. Knight took a sip of coffee, sighing as the liquid hit her lips. "By the end of these two weeks, The Replacement won't need to kill me – I'll be dead from exhaustion."

"You and me both," Kelly said tiredly, staring at her pancakes.

Logan yawned. "Has anyone checked on the Captain's body yet?"

Everyone glanced at each other. "I haven't," Kelly said.

"I definitely haven't," Gustavo added with a disgusted look.

"Well, I just got up, and so did James, so we haven't," Katie put in.

Kendall nodded. "I haven't even thought of it," he admitted.

"Okay then. When we've finished eating, we need to figure out what to do with his body," Logan said.

Well, that happy announcement pretty much ruined my appetite. Nevertheless, I did manage to finish eating. However, when I glanced over at Katie, I noticed she was picking at her food, eyes downcast.

I nudged her. "What's wrong?"

She glanced up at me, eyes wide. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Mmm hmmm. Sure. It's not like I've known her for pretty much her entire life or anything. It's not like I ever dated her either.

"Come on, I know something's wrong," I prodded her.

"I'm fine," she snapped quietly. "Stop asking me."

I leaned back, hands raised in the don't-shoot position. "Okay, okay, I promise not to be concerned about you anymore!"

She glared at me. "It shouldn't be that much of a change – after all, you weren't concerned about me for three years!"

Ouch. That hurt. But I knew where she was coming from. I hadn't contacted her for three years, and there were always pictures cropping up of me with some random girl.

"Katie, that's not true," I said softly. "I never stopped being in love with you."

"Really? Did you get amnesia? Because you sure seemed to have loved a lot of girls."

"Katie," I said quietly, leaning in so my lips were just barely brushing her ear, "those girls meant nothing to me, not like you do."

She glared, eyes filling with tears. "You slept with them, didn't you?" she hissed back. "Just like you slept with me. I'm not seeing much of a difference."

I recoiled. "Katie – " I gasped out, but before I could say anything else, she had leapt up from her seat and run out of the dining hall.

I threw my napkin down on my plate and rushed out after her. "Katie!"

I found her huddled in a side corridor, on the ground, knees drawn to her chest, crying.

"Katie…"

"Go away James!"

"Katie, talk to me, please. We need to talk this out."

"NO! I don't want to ever see you again!"

"That's kind of hard, seeing as how we're trapped on the – "

"I KNOW! BUT CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?"

"Not when you're so upset."

"I wouldn't be SO UPSET if it wasn't for YOU, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

"I know I hurt you – "

"NO! No more pretty lies, no more stories, no more alibis! I'm done with this! You're dead to me, Diamond! DEAD!"

I stumbled back into the opposite wall. "Katie…" I gasped out. "I'm not – I've never lied to you!"

"OH YEAH?" she screamed, jumping to her feet. "YOU SAID YOU WOULD STAY WITH ME FOREVER! I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING! MY LOVE, MY VIRGINITY!"

"I DIDN'T LIE TO YOU!" I yelled back. "I MEANT IT!"

"WHICH IS WHY FOUR MONTHS AFTER WE SLEPT TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME, YOU HIGHTAILED IT OUTTA THERE!"

"IF I REMEMBER RIGHT, YOU AND YOUR MOM WERE THE ONES WHO LEFT!"

"AND YOU NEVER TRIED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME!" she screamed back. She paused, and then laughed bitterly. "Of course," she continued on in a more quiet voice, "that was the reason we ended up together anyway. It's not like we dated before we ended up in bed together."

I crossed my arms. "I never heard you complaining before."

"Well, it's always bothered me," she replied, mirroring my movement. "And I finally came to the conclusion that you only wanted me for sex, nothing else. It's not like we ever really went out and did anything together."

"Because I could've been arrested for sleeping with a minor!"

"The only way people would have known was if an internet popped up of us, or if you decided to wear a sign that says 'I'm sleeping with an underage girl'!"

"We agreed that it wasn't worth the risk!"

"Oh puh-leeze! That was just a lame excuse for never taking me out."

"It was not! Are you accusing me of being cheap?"

"You're cheap on everything except your hair and clothes!"

"I took you to the movies! And I bought you chocolate!"

"Oh sure, to the movies, where it's dark and where we can't talk! All we did was make out in the back of the theater, where no one could see!"

"Once again, you never complained!"

"I should've seen it before!" she continued on, now pacing up and down the hall. "You were nineteen, you were horny, and I was available!"

I rolled my eyes. "That wasn't it at all. There were tons of girls that I could've slept with."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh really? So how many of them were you fucking while we were 'together'?" She raised her fingers in quotation marks.

"None of them!" I roared back.

"Hah! Like I believe that!"

"Yeah, why would you want to believe me? It's not like you've known me pretty much your entire life!"

"I thought I did! But the person who I thought I knew would have never treated me like I never existed for THREE FUCKING YEARS!"

"Yeah? Well the girl I used to know would have agreed to hear me out."

"I'm sick and tired of making excuses for you. You're a man whore, and that's all you'll ever be!"

* * *

><p><strong>Logan's POV<strong>

The entire room watched as Katie dashed out of the room, James hot on her heels. There was silence, and then Kendall spoke up: "What the hell happened with them?"

Mrs. Knight dropped her head into her hands. "Who knows? I swear, sometimes I think they dated and broke up what with the way Katie acts when it comes to him."

I nearly choked as I took a sip of coffee. Funny she should mention that…

Yeah, I knew a little more than what I ever wanted to. The Replacement, freak that he was, sent me pictures of them in 'the act'. So yes, I knew that they had had a 'relationship' three years ago. I knew they had had sex multiple times, and I was betting that he had taken her virginity when she was only sixteen. I couldn't understand, much less comprehend, what he had been thinking! Katie was as good as our little sister, we basically shared her as our adopted sister, and to realize that one of us had actually done the unthinkable, had actually had sex with her…I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

Kendall glared at his mother. "That's not funny," he snapped harshly. "Don't _**ever**_ joke about that again."

Mrs. Knight met her son's eyes evenly, but I saw her bottom lip tremble.

"Kendall, stop it," I spoke up. "She was merely making an observation, she wasn't serious."

"I know _**that**_, Doctor Mitchell," he retorted. "And it's not something that _**anyone**_ should ever joke about."

He had a point, but…

Carlos and Stephanie stepped into the room, arms wrapped tightly around each other, both looking exhausted, but happy, both smiling like a couple of idiots. He said something to her, and she laughed, and sighed dreamily, resting her head on his shoulder briefly before they both realized that the room was already mostly full.

Kelly smiled at them. "Well, you two look happy."

Carlos beamed. "It's a beautiful day."

Kendall and I exchanged a smirk. If James hadn't run out of Katie, he would have started shouting "YOU TWO TOTALLY GOT IT ON!" but since, he had chased after Katie…Wow, this was weird. Kendall and I had just acted like we were still friends, and I had just wished that James was here. Okay. This was bizarre. It was a major case of déjà vu.

Carlos and Stephanie headed over to the bar to get their food, and I watched them, laughing quietly to myself at how comfortable Carlos looked with her, when I remembered him as being the most awkward guy in the world.

Stephanie turned around and her eyes zoned into me, filled with something that definitely could pass for hatred.

I knew she thought I had drugged her and raped her but…the thing is…I don't remember doing it. I don't even know where I would have gotten the drugs.

I remember being with Camille that night, but I don't remember much else. I mean, I wasn't with Camille like that. I was only sixteen, and I don't believe in having sex before you're at least eighteen. And I still don't believe that I had sex with Stephanie. Okay, I mean, so we were both naked, but there wasn't a used condom around anywhere, no semen, and as far as I know, she was never pregnant. Plus…you can usually tell if you had sex with someone, and I simply don't think I did.

But Stephanie was convinced that I had drugged and raped her, and now…I had insisted, pleaded, griped, the morning after the party that she had been roofied at, but she had refused to listen to me. A couple of days later, she had moved back to New York city, and I hadn't seen her since. Carlos had been heartbroken, although he had bounced back before long, focusing his romantic/sexual energy on The Jennifers.

"So, what are we talking about?" Carlos said mildly as he and Stephanie sat down at the other side of the table.

"It's not important," Kendall grumbled.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway, we have more important business to discuss."

"Such as?" Griffin said, a little bit snippily. Oooh, attitude. Not smart Griffin, when I can spill your secret at any moment.

"Such as the Captain's body. What're we going to do with it?"

Mrs. Knight bit her lip. "Well, what _can_ we do with it? No matter what we do with it, it's going to start rotting and smelling and can't disease spread from that?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it can."

Griffin stood up. "Our answer is obvious then. We dump his body into the ocean."

"And then what?" I demanded, also standing up to face him. "He had nothing to do with this! Do you really think he deserves to be just thrown into the ocean?"

"Are you really worrying about honor and morals and all that shit? We're trying to survive!" Griffin roared.

Kendall stood up to, facing Griffin off. "If we're going to die in two weeks, I'd much rather have my honor and morals and all that shit than the knowledge that I was a complete bastard! Dumping the Captain's body into the ocean isn't going to bring The Replacement down! So just shut your snozzle and let the responsible, hardworking, decent people make the decisions."

Stephanie snorted. "Decent people? Does that include you and Logan?"

Jo gaped at her. "Stephanie!"

"What? I'm just saying. They've both been pretty cold towards you and Cami."

"But that doesn't mean they're not good people," Camille protested.

My eyes met Stephanie's. I knew what she was thinking, but I couldn't try to convince her that she was wrong, not in front of all these people.

Kendall cleared his throat. "Why don't we just put his body in the kitchen freezer? We can refrigerate everything else that was in the freezer."

Griffin made a face. "That'll mean we'll need to tell the cook what happened."

"Well, that's the only thing that I can come up with that's actually accessible."

I nodded. "Yeah, that'll work. I mean, it's not like we have any other choice, right?"

"Right," Mrs. Knight agreed.

"I'll go find James and Katie," Jo volunteered, getting to her feet. "Anyone want to come with me?" She glanced pointedly at Kendall, but he determinedly avoided her eyes.

"I will," Carlos said with a shrug. "You don't mind, do you Stephanie?"

She shook her head and kissed his cheek. "Go ahead. Love you baby."

"Love you too."

"We'll meet you guys outside the Captain's office," I suggested.

Those two headed off and we made our way towards the Captain's office.

Camille immediately caught up with me. "So…ummm…how've things been?"

"What things?" I asked.

"You know, just…life…in general."

"Good," I replied. "Being a doctor's is very fulfilling. How's your life?"

She laughed. "Apart from the possibly being-killed-in-two-weeks thing, it's been good. Lots of movie rolls, and I'm up for an Academy Award for Best Actress."

I paused. "Oh yeah, I heard that. Congratulations."

"Thanks." She smiled softly at me, and for a split second we were sixteen again and I had just asked her to be my girlfriend.

And then we reached the cabin door and everything came crashing back. Especially when we noticed that the door was open a couple of inches.

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

I watched as James crumpled to the ground in front of me as my words hit him.

"Katie…" he gasped out, staring up at me with huge, watery hazel eyes. He looked as if he was fighting back tears.

"Don't even start," I retorted coldly. "You're a heartless bastard, and you always will be."

"Katie…please…"

"Just shut the fuck up! I don't want to hear you begging. All you want is to sleep with me. That's all you'll ever want from me."

"That's not true!"

"Oh just – "

"What's going on here?"

We both turned to find Jo and Carlos coming towards us.

"We heard…yelling…" Carlos mumbled.

"Whatever," I hissed. "What do you guys need?"

"We figured out what to do with the Captain's body," Jo said. "We're all meeting at his cabin."

I nodded and marched right past her and Carlos, leaving James to get up off of the floor.

It was a pretty silent walk to the Captain's captain. No one said anything, although I knew that that was mainly because both Carlos and Jo were mulling over what they had just witnessed between James and me.

As we rounded around the last corner, I caught sight of the others standing outside the Captain's open cabin door, staring blankly in.

"What is it?" Jo called as we reached them.

Kendall wordlessly pointed in. We all stuck our heads in hesitantly, expecting to see the captain where we had left him. All there was, however, was an empty chair. What the – ?

And suddenly, our phones vibrated and buzzed and beeped and chimed all together. Glancing at each other with scared looks on our faces, we one by one pulled our phones out of our pockets and opened the new text message:

_**Well, well, well, looks like you're one body short! Don't worry, yours truly has the Captain's corpse, and it's hidden somewhere on this ship. Bonus points if you can find it! But until then…Jennifer! I think you have a secret you need to tell your daughter! Won't she be interested to find out that her father is still alive? -The Replacement.**_

I nearly dropped my phone in horror as I turned to stare at my mother. "MY FATHER'S STILL ALIVE?" I felt the words rip out of my lungs painfully, nearly sending me into the wall.

Mom stepped back, her eyes widening as they filled with tears.

Kendall, on the other hand, took a step forward. "Yes. He's alive. Mom lied to us our entire lives."

I felt my hand go up to my mouth as I stared at my mother. "But – why?"

Mom bowed her head. "It's a long story."

"JUST FUCKING TELL ME!" I shrieked. "JUST TELL ME, DAMN IT! YOU LIED TO ME FOR NINETEEN YEARS, YOU OWE ME THE FUCKING STORY!"

"Fine!" Mom cried back. "The truth is…the truth is…Your father's in jail."

"But…why?"

She took a deep breath. "Your father was dealing drugs. He was my boyfriend. I was sixteen when I met him. We began dating right away. He was the school's bad boy, and I was, well, for lack of a better term, the good girl. I was a straight _**A**_ honor student, who had never even had a boyfriend before. He introduced me to a whole different world, filled with drugs, alcohol, rock and roll…and sex." She paused, taking a minute to breathe. "Six months after we began dating, I discovered that I was pregnant with his kid. The first time we had slept together, we had been drunk. But after that…" she smiled sadly. "Let's just say it was a good point in my life…until I became pregnant, I mean."

Kendall pressed his lips together, but didn't say anything, waiting for Mom to continue.

"Eight months later, I gave birth to a beautiful blond haired boy," she smiled at Kendall. "We moved into a house of our own…and things were good…for a little while." She paused again, and then said, "I became pregnant after two years of giving birth to you, Kendall. This time we had a beautiful girl, who was feisty as hell."

James coughed, sounding as if he was trying to disguise a laugh. I turned to glare at him, and he flinched slightly.

Mom ignored our exchange: "But little did I know, my boyfriend, since we had never even gotten married, hadn't grown out of his high school ways. He was dealing coke and pot and E on the streets of Minneapolis, when I thought he was working at Pizza Hut. It wasn't until I brought you kids to eat there one day that I discovered he wasn't there. I asked the manager, and they had never heard of him. I confronted him about it at home, and we got into a huge fight." She sighed, raking her hand through her hair. "He slapped me."

Kendall gasped.

"He slapped me, screaming stuff that I won't repeat. I had never seen him like that before, and it scared me. But what terrified me even more was that you two were in your room, Kendall, and you could probably hear the fight. I didn't know what he was going to do. I had just discovered that the guy I had fallen in love with and had had two kids with was dealing drugs. I didn't know what he was capable of. So I grabbed you kids and locked us in the bathroom with a phone, and called 911.

"When the cops arrived, they found him banging on the door, screaming at me. They found the drugs in a shoebox under our bed. Under our bed! It had been right in front of me all that time, and I had been too stupid to realize it." She pulled at her hair in anguish. "He was taken away. A few years later, he was released, but he immediately went back to his old ways. I think he's in jail for another five years or something. I don't know, I haven't heard from him since he was arrested the second time around – he used his one phone call to call me and ask me to get him out of jail. I refused, but I called his parents to let them know."

I couldn't move. I felt as if I was frozen there. How – how could my father be so messed up? How could I be one of those kids with criminal parents? I mean, you hear about them, but you never think it's going to happen to you…and now…

I finally regained control of my limbs. "I'm sorry…I need some time to…to think this all over. I'll be – I'll be in James's and my room."

As I stumbled off, wobbling slightly, I heard Kendall holler, "WHAT? _**YOU'RE**_ SHARING A ROOM WITH MY BABY SISTER?"

Gee, three guesses as to who Kendall was yelling at. Unbelievable. He hadn't bothered to find out anything about my life in three years, and all of a sudden, he decided to act like my big brother again! Seriously?

I reached my room and threw myself on my bed, trying to sort through my emotions. I just…I don't know. Nothing made sense. I hated drugs, and my father had dealt them? What the hell?

I leaned back against my pillows, breathing deeply. I had the sudden urge to do something reckless…beyond reckless, actually. I wanted to do something that I would never do if I was in my right state of mind. Something that I knew I would regret, but something that I couldn't give a damn about at that moment.

The door swung open, and James walked in hesitantly. He ran his hand through his hair, looking nervous. "Sorry…I know you didn't want to be bothered…I just thought I'd grab my swim trunks, go for a swim or something…Ummm…I'll be quick."

I sat up, my gaze catching the shape of his butt in his jeans, the way his shirt hugged his broad chest, the way his rolled-up sleeves showed off his forearms, the way his brown hair glinted in the light, the way his big hazel eyes kept flicking towards me, the way his eyelashes curved out, the shape of his nose.

Perfect.

I slowly unbuttoned my jacket, licking my lips. He glanced over at me, eyes widening slightly. I kicked my sneakers off and met his eyes, biting my lip seductively and putting on my best bedroom eyes. He had frozen in his tracks, looking alarmed, like a deer in the headlights.

I sat up even more, pulling my cami up and over my head and tossing it to the side.

"Katie…" James breathed out. "We can't…"

"Yes we can."

I shimmied out of my jeans and socks, until I was just in my teal bra and matching panties, with James still standing there, looking more than a little conflicted.

I shifted to my knees and crawled towards him, swinging my hips slightly, still keeping my eyes on his. I reached the edge of the bed, where he was standing, and straightened up on my knees, and pulled him to me. I kissed along his jaw and neck, my fingers already unbuttoning his shirt and jeans.

He pulled back. "No…this isn't right. You're – you need comfort, but comfort sex…No…I can't…We can't…"

I reached for him again. "You want me. I can see in your eyes that you want me."

"Yes, I do. But not like this. Not when you're a total wreck."

But I wasn't giving in that easily. I kissed him full on the lips, while tugging at his hair, a kink of his. It always turned him on, and this time was no exception.

I grinned. I was good.

"James…" I whined against his lips. "Please…Just this once?"

"No."

I pressed myself against his body, raising my knee slightly into his jeans, just below the zipper of his. He groaned at the contact.

"Please…I need you…" I got his shirt open, and raked my nails down his bare chest.

I could feel him struggling to hold out.

"It would be soooo good," I tried. "Soooo hot…Please? I need you. I love you."

This time, he kissed me back.

* * *

><p><strong><em>So...who saw the thing with Katie's and Kendall's father coming? And how about this new twist with James and Katie? Are you all cheering and screaming, or are you all shaking your fist and shouting insults at James?<em>**

**_Anyway, let me know what you think...plus, you know, the review button's lonely, it needs some companionship ;)_**

**_Okay, I'll wrap this up. Review, because I'd love to hear what you think of the chapter! :)_**


	9. Chapter 9 Tension, Tension, Tension

_**Check it out! CHAPTER 9! Can I have a huge round of applause?**_

**_Disclaimer: Ummm...nooo...I don't own Big Time Rush...Not even close._**

_**I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I've been so busy with school (midterms were last week), friends, and "Addicted", a story that Jatieluv and I are cowriting. We go by the penname JatieFantasy, but be warned - it's M rated for good reason people! We're talking sex, mentions of drug, some drinking, lots of cussing. But...**_

_**This chapter is M rated, instead of T, and I'll explain why once I get past my Thank Yous:**_

_**togetherwecanbealright: I'm always happy to get a review, even if the person isn't signed in...so thank you for reviewing! You're about to become even happier in that case ;)**_

_**PopcornLover: Thank you for reviewing! No problem, you're very welcome! Yep, what a twist huh? ;)**_

_**Anonymous: Thank you for reviewing! As a matter of fact...Lots of Jatie hotness in this chapter ;)**_

_**MissBellaDiamond: Thank you for reviewing! And thank you so much! You're so sweet! :)**_

_**jenifrelizabeth: Wow, thank you so much, and thank you for reviewing! You're so sweet, and tell your friend 'thank you'! I hate stories like that, they're not realistic, and they're usually pretty boring, unless they're well written, so thank you again. Sorry for ending it on 'a sexy note'. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it ;)**_

_**19: Thank you so much, and thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad you like it so far!**_

_**CrystalHakari: Thank you so much! And thank you for reviewing!**_

_**Jate 4 ever: Actually, I think I got all of your 'so's. ;) Thank you so much for reviewing, and thank you! You're so, so sweet! I can understand your confusion, I don't even know how I feel about them hooking up, and I'm the one who's writing the story. Anyway, thank you again!**_

**_AND A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has favorited or place an alert on this story or me! Thank you so much!_**

**_Okay, so...WARNING! This chapter is rated M! Because I got a couple of requests to do a James/Katie sex scene...so I thought I'd try my hand at one...And there's actually TWO sex scenes for them...I put warnings up around the sex scenes for those of you who don't want to read them - and I'm sure there will be plenty who won't._**

**_Anyway, enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9 – Tension, Tension, Tension<strong>

**May 3****rd****, 6:18 PM**

**James's POV**

I know what you're thinking. I really do. You're probably cussing me out right now, demanding to know how I could sleep with Katie when she was so broken. Well, don't worry, I am too. Believe me, I am. I don't even know what I was thinking! I know one thing's for sure – I wasn't using my head. Well, actually, scratch that. I was using my head…just not the right one.

I laid there, tangled in sheets, sweat and cum still coating my body, stroking Katie's hair. She was laying with her head on my chest, breathing deeply, sound asleep. She looked so…peaceful. So beautiful. Like an angel. Only I knew from experience that she was no angel. The last seven hours had proven that. How was it even possible to _**have**_ that much stamina?

I was doing my very best to regret what had taken place, but I was doing a really terrible job…I mean, don't get me wrong, if I could take it back I would, but at the same time…I was glad it had happened. I don't know if that makes any sense at all. All I know is that's what was going through my mind. Utter nonsense.

Katie stirred slightly, mumbling something, but she didn't wake up. I kissed her head, and let my own head rest against the pillow, replaying what had happened in my mind…

* WARNING: SEX SCENE BELOW

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Sex Scene Begins Here*:<strong>_

_**I kissed Katie back, melting into her lips. I don't know why I did it. I really don't. All I know is that any ounce of control I had had was suddenly gone. I couldn't resist her. I had never been able to.**_

_**She wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me down on top of her. Her nails raked down my back as she planted a kiss on my shoulder. I pulled her face up to meet mine so that I could kiss her again. The next thing I knew, I was on my back, with Katie straddling me, hands running down my abs. Keeping her eyes locked on mine, she reached behind and unhooked her bra. Tossing her hair back, she let the bra fall away.**_

"_**You're wearing too many clothes," she murmured, unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans. I groaned as her fingers brushed against my hard-on.**_

"_**Still love my touch?" she whispered, smirking.**_

"_**Always," I sighed as she tugged my jeans down. She hooked her fingers in the waistband of my boxers, but didn't yank them down like I thought she would. Instead, she let her fingers creep under the elastic a little bit, massaging my hips. I squirmed a bit under her touch, but she just snickered.**_

_**Biting my lip, I managed to pull her panties down her long legs, and she kicked them off, so she was sitting on my stomach, completely naked.**_

_**The next thing I knew, my boxers were being wrenched down too. She bit her lip, smiling **_

_**mischievously.**_

"_**I see Mini James still likes me."**_

"_**He never stopped," I gasped out.**_

_**Without further ado, she had grasped 'Mini James' in one hand, stroking up and down. I moaned and bucked up against her hand.**_

"_**You're so hard," she groaned. "So big…"**_

_**I grinned and pressed a finger against her center. She was already damp.**_

_**She tipped her head back, moaning as I rubbed circles into her clit.**_

_**It was too easy to go back into old habits. At this point, we could have been nineteen and sixteen, and messing around in my bed while everyone else was out of the apartment. It was déjà vu, and I couldn't tell the difference between three years ago and present time.**_

_**Katie slid down my body, kissing down my neck, my chest, and my abs.**_

_**My head was tilted so far back into the pillow that I was going to start breathing cotton and feathers soon. My fingers clenched themselves around the quilt as she licked up one crevice of my abs. "Mmmmm…"**_

_**I pulled her back up so that we were face to face, and then flipped us over so that I was on top.**_

"_**You always did like to be in control," she gasped out, staring up at me.**_

"_**It's nice to see you've remembered that."**_

"_**How can I forget when I used to have to cover all those hickeys you'd give me before going out to eat breakfast with everyone?"**_

_**Oh yeah…I'd almost forgotten about that…**_

_**I kissed her lips again, before working my way down to her chest. She arched against me, stuffing her fist into her mouth to keep from moaning, I guess to make sure that no one passing by our room would hear.**_

"_**Good?" I asked teasingly, licking around a nipple.**_

_**She nodded and "mm hmm"-ed through her hand.**_

_**I moved down to her stomach, licking around her belly button.**_

_**Katie finally took her hand away from her mouth. "So, this is how you like girls, right? On their backs?"**_

_**Oh no she didn't.**_

"_**That's weird," I retorted, straightening up and pinning her hands above her head. "I could have sworn you always preferred being on top."**_

_**She wiggled, fighting against me, but her eyes were blazing with lust.**_

_**I released my hold on her long enough for her to push me onto my back. She climbed on top, hovering over my cock, biting her lip, thinking hard.**_

_**Before I could say or do anything, she had slowly lowered herself down onto me. I gasped at the sensation. She was so. Fucking. Tight!**_

"_**When was the last time you had sex?" I groaned out.**_

_**She stared at me, before answering, "It's been a while."**_

"_**I can feel that."**_

"_**Don't you like it when the girl's tight?" To prove her point, she raised, and then lowered herself.**_

"_**Nnnngghhh…"**_

"_**I'll take that as a yes."**_

_**I don't know how long we continued like that, bantering back and forth while she lifted and lowered herself on me, but it wasn't long before her muscles clenched around me. The next thing I knew, she had thrown her head back, screaming out my name. The feeling of her climaxing sent me over the edge, and my muscles spasm-ed. The next thing I knew, bolts of pleasure were shooting through my body, and Katie's name was ripping from my lungs.**_

_***Sex Scene Ends Here*:**_

* * *

><p>That had gone on for the past few hours. Eventually we had collapsed beside each other, tangled in each other's limbs. The sex had ranged from angry to, well, definitely not sweet, but definitely passionate.<p>

Katie snuggled closer to me, and I automatically wrapped my arm around her.

Wow…if Kendall and Mrs. Knight could see us now…

I closed my eyes, thinking about maybe trying to get a little more sleep. I drifted off into uneasy dreams.

* * *

><p><strong>Kendall's POV<strong>

So. Mom had finally told Katie the truth. And, okay, I had finally found out the entire story myself. About fucking time! I had been waiting for three years to find out the truth about my father. Three years!

And where was James anyway? He was sharing a room with Katie…and she was so upset…who even knew what they were doing in there? And why were they sharing a room in the first place? Did something happen with them?

We hadn't moved from the hallway. Logan was pacing around the cabin, muttering to himself, while trying to find a clue that would lead us to the Captain's body. Camille was leaning against the doorframe, watching Logan's ass, while licking her lips. Some things will never change. Those two had so much sexual tension that I was amazed they weren't going at it on top of the Captain's desk.

Hmmm…speaking of sexual tension…Jo came up on my right, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"With the whole thing with your mom and…everything."

"Oh…yeah, I'm fine."

"Kendall…" Jo sighed, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "Look, I know you're pissed at me, but Logan and I never – "

I raised my hand up. "Whatever. I don't want to hear it."

"But Kendall…"

"I said, I don't – "

"Oh my God…" Logan had just opened one of the desk drawers, and had leapt back in horror.

"What is it?" Mom called in to him.

Logan had his hand over his mouth, and he was turning green. "You guys better…come in…"

We all slowly walked into the room. Logan pointed at the drawer. We looked in all at once, and there was a simultaneous gasp, followed by several cuss words and "Oh my God!"s. Laying there in the drawer was a single finger.

"Is it – is it real?" Camille whispered finally.

Logan nodded. "Yeah, it's real."

I have seen some truly disgusting things. I have seen Carlos vomit up seven chilly cheese dogs. I've seen Mr. Bitters without a shirt. I've seen my teammates spat up blood on the ice after taking a hit to the mouth. But this topped them all.

I felt my stomach clench, and the next thing I knew, I was running to the nearest bathroom. I dropped to my knees by the toilet, and hurled everything I had eaten at breakfast into the toilet bowl.

"Oh baby…"

I recognized Jo's voice as she knelt down beside me, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

"I'm fi – "

"Don't even give me that crap," she snapped. "You're practically vomiting up a lung. I know you're pissed at me, but just let me be here for you."

I managed to turn my head to look into her soft brown eyes. Despite the tone of her voice, she didn't look angry.

She rested her fingers against my forehead, letting them drift down my cheek. Her skin was soft and cool, so different from what my entire body felt like at the moment.

"Poor thing," she cooed. "Can I get you anything?"

"Just – stay – with me," I managed to gasp out, my voice hoarse from the vomiting.

She nodded and kissed my forehead. Unfortunately, at that moment, my stomach decided to lurch again, and I had to turn and retch into the toilet again.

I vomited several more times, before finally slumping to the floor, my body shaking from exhaustion.

Jo wrapped her arms around me. "It's okay…You're okay…"

At that moment, our phones vibrated simultaneously. Shit.

Glancing at each other, we opened the next text:

_**Look who's finally getting along! But…Jo, Kendall has a huge secret that you might want to ask him about. Ask him what he did after you left for New Zealand. I'll give you a hint – how did your mother die? –The Replacement.**_

I groaned. So much for us getting along.

"You were an alcoholic?" Jo asked in a deadly low voice.

"Ummm…"

"You were!"

"It's not what you think!"

"Is it ever?" She stood up, bottom lip trembling. "My mother died from alcohol poisoning! What the fuck, Kendall?"

I also got to my feet, feeling like I was about to cry. "Jo, just listen to me – "

"No! You swore to me long ago that you would never drink, not after what happened to my mom! Your grandmother got liver poisoning from too much alcohol! How – why – "

"Jo, you're overreacting – "

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet? Not only did you swear to never touch the stuff, you were seventeen! You were an underage alcoholic!"

"I'm sorry…"

"And I don't want to hear it! I'm out of here!"

She got up, scrunching up her dress in the process, and stalked out of there.

Well. That went well.

* * *

><p><strong>Camille's POV<strong>

I sat on the stairs leading up to the second floor. After Kendall had run out, Jo had chased after him, and the rest of us had disbanded. I mean, let's face it, who wants to stay in a room with a dismembered finger?

"Hey, there you are," Logan said, coming out into the lobby, and then walking over to join me on the stairs.

"Yeah…here I am." I gave him the double thumbs-up and a fake-peppy smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he sat down.

"Yeah, you know, random dismembered finger in the desk drawer, totally everyday stuff. Pfft, yesterday was weird because there weren't any lone body parts anywhere."

And wow, that didn't sound psycho-crazy at all. Nope, I sounded totally sane. As sane as The Replacement, at the very least.

Logan laughed. "Yeah, I guess it threw all of us off. I think Kendall ran off to barf, and I don't know what Jo was doing. I think she was going to go comfort him, because she only looked slightly green."

"Do you – do you think it was – I mean – do you think it was the Captain's?" I asked uneasily.

Logan pursed his lips. "I hope so, for the sake of everyone else on the ship."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and then I finally said, "It's really great to see you again, Logan. It really is."

He smiled. "It's great to see you too, Cami."

I fiddled with my hair, unsure of where to go from there. There was so much that I wanted to tell him, but I just couldn't seem to find the words for it.

"I – I heard about the gunshots at Gustavo's mansion," Logan began. "Were you – were there when it happened?"

I shook my head. "I was out, shopping for a heavy coat."

"Thank goodness," Logan murmured, and then realized what he had said and clapped his hand to his mouth. "I – I mean – I'm glad you weren't hurt."

I smiled. So he did still care after all.

"Thanks. You're still as sweet as ever."

Logan blushed at my compliment. "Thanks. So are you."

My smile widened. "I'm glad I can still make you blush like a thirteen year old boy."

He turned even redder.

"Would you feel better if I slapped you a couple of times?" I asked him.

He laughed. "Yeah, actually I probably would."

I pulled my hand back and slapped him across the face.

"Okay, things feel almost normal now," he informed me.

"And just to make things completely normal…" I grabbed his face and kissed him smack on the lips, before letting him go. "Okay, things are normal now."

His eyes widened. "So, um, am I the only one you've ever slapped and kissed, or – "

He was interrupted as Jo came running through the lobby and pounding up the stairs, looking like she was about to cry.

"Jo – ?" I called after her, but she didn't stop.

I turned to Logan. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go check on her."

"It's okay, go do what you need to do."

"Thanks."

I followed Jo to our room, where she was collapsed on the twin bed she had slept on. I sat down on my own bed, watching her worriedly.

"Jo?" I tried cautiously. "What happened? Did Kendall say something?"

Jo rolled over. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was sticking to her tear-streaked face. "It's not what he said. It's what he did."

"What did he do?"

Jo reached into the pocket of her denim jacket and pulled her phone out. She scrolled through her texts until she found one, and passed the phone to me. I read it and swore.

"Oh Jo…"

Jo's super sensitive when it comes to alcohol. Her mom died from alcohol poisoning four years ago, and her aunt was an alcoholic too. She swore to never touch the stuff, and when Kendall's grandmother got some sort of disease in her liver, she made Kendall promise to never drink either. Obviously when they broke up, he ditched the solemn oath he had made to her. Ouch. What a way to say to hell with their relationship.

"Look," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he didn't mean it like…like he was saying he no longer cared about you. He probably wasn't even thinking about it when he started drinking."

She looked at me, tears streaking her face. "How do you not even think about something like – like that – when you start drinking? He was saying he didn't give a damn about me or our relationship!"

"Jo, this is Kendall. He would never do that to you. He loves you – or, at least he did."

"Yeah, he _**did**_," she sniffed. "He obviously doesn't now."

I took a tissue from the Kleenex box on the nightstand and wiped her tears away. "We don't know that," I said sympathetically.

"No, we can only assume, but I know I'm right!"

"The Replacement is messing with your mind, Jo."

"Oh yeah? Then how come I haven't heard from him since he joined the Minnesota Wild? He doesn't give a fuck, Cami."

"Oh Jo…" I was sure that wasn't true, I knew Kendall, but Jo was stubborn, especially when she was hurt and angry.

Jo rolled over on her side. "Just go away, please Camille. I just want to be alone."

I nodded and got to my feet. "I'm sorry Jo. You don't deserve this."

"Does anyone?"

"No," I said quietly, walking towards the door. "I'm sorry Jo."

I left the room, closing the door quietly behind me, bowing my head sadly. Even if Kendall hadn't meant

to hurt Jo, he still had.

At that moment, my phone vibrated in my skirt pocket. I groaned and pulled my phone out. I had a new text from The Replacement: _**Just remember, you've got your own secret that can and will be revealed when and if I see fit. Jennifer Knight and Kendall Knight have already been out-ed by me. You will be too. Don't assume you're safe because you haven't technically lied about anything. Logan will find out the truth, whether you like it or not. Have a great day! –The Replacement.**_

Great. Well, this just made my day.

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

When I woke up, my entire body ached like I had just been dropped into a mosh-pit, and then trampled by an entire football team. Shit. I felt like crap. And I knew why. I had done exactly what I had fought against the night before. I had had sex with James. And not just once. Quite a few times. So many times, in fact, that I had lost count. That would explain why a certain part of my lower anatomy felt raw and overworked. I hadn't had sex since I was sixteen, with James. You can't just go from not having sex to having sex six or seven times in a row! You just can't.

James was asleep beside me, and my head was on his bare chest, one of his arms draped over my body. Wow. This felt familiar. How about that?

I wiggled out from under his arm, trying not to wake him up. I was about to crawl out of bed when his eyes opened.

"K-Katie?"

Damn.

"What?" I asked, more harshly than I intended.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I – I – I'm sorry. I took advantage of you. I'm so sorry."

"Whatever," I snapped. "I did the same thing to you. We're even. And congratulations by the way. You got into my pants, which is what you've wanted all along. You must be so happy."

He looked like he'd been slapped across the face. "Katie – "

"Don't even start," I snarled as I reached for my panties and bra.

He sat up, a look of fury mixed with hurt on his face. "_**You're**_ the one who seduced _**me**_! You're the instigator here! I only did what you wanted me to do – and damn, you wanted it. You were screaming for more!"

My clothes slipped from my finger as I launched myself at him, slapping him across the face. "You fucking bastard. I hate you!"

He grabbed me and pinned me under him. "Really? Because you were screaming my name two hours ago."

I struggled against his grip, glaring furiously up at him. "I was so out of it, I would have slept with Christian if he had been here!"

He recoiled at the mention of my jackass of an ex-boyfriend. "Well, then it's too bad that you had to settle for me."

"Yeah, I guess it is," I snapped.

It was at that moment that I realized that we were both naked…and that somehow or other, I was getting turned-on. Again.

His eyes were dark with a combination of anger and lust, and I knew he was experiencing the same bizarre arousal that I was. Anger. That can be a turn-on, right? Especially when you already have so much sexual tension and frustration between two people. Oh God…

* WARNING: SEX SCENE BELOW

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>*Sex Scene Begins Here*:<span>_**

I pulled him down on top of me, kissing him as hard as I could. I felt my already bruised lips throb against his mouth. He was already hard again, but I wasn't complaining. He always did have fantastic stamina.

"Katie," he gasped out. "We're going to – "

"Are you complaining?" I hissed.

"Never."

I felt him move his hand down to my clit, rubbing. He smirked. "I see someone's extremely ready."

I smirked back and grabbed his hard-on. "Look who's talking, you're the one who feels like you're made of iron."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, babe."

"I think we both know what helps me sleep at night, darling."

"My vagina?" I quipped.

"You're good."

"Always."

The next thing I knew, he was pushing into me fast and rough, and then pulling out, before thrusting back in.

I gasped as the bed began to rock back and forth, slamming against the wall. My vaginal muscles were screaming in a mixture of pain and ecstasy – a weird combination. I could feel the mattress bending under my body according to whichever position James was in at the moment.

I gasped as I felt him shift his hips and pound right into my sweet spot. Fuck…How did he do that?

He smirked. "Look who's lost control," he taunted.

Oh no he didn't.

"Just shut the fuck up!" I screamed, feeling my hips buck up to meet his on their own. "I HATE YOU JAMES DIAMOND!"

Really? Seriously? I was screaming that I hated him as he fucked me into the mattress? That was slightly backwards. Just a little bit.

James just growled, glaring down at me as he thrust his hips against mine. He lowered himself down enough to whisper in my ear, "I want you screaming my name in ecstasy. We'll see how much you hate me then."

"Fuck you, James," I spat.

"That's exactly what you're doing," he snarled back.

I reached up and grasped his hair in retaliation, pulling hard. He yelped, his eyes growing even darker. It was a secret turn-on for him, even though it hurt him too.

"Enjoying yourself?" I taunted.

"Not as much as you."

"Au contraire, you look like a sixteen year old boy who just saw his girlfriend naked for the first time."

He slammed into me even harder. "It's nice to see your sarcasm never abandoned you."

"It's nice to see you're still as much of a jackass as you were this morning."

"You just love getting under my skin, don't you?"

"As much as you love getting under mine." I raised myself up to grab his face and pulled his lips to mine.

He kissed me back hungrily, his lips rough, chapped, and swollen against mine.

I pulled back, gasping, when something moved out of the corner of my eye, and I glanced at the full-length mirror that hung on the closet door, where the movement had occurred: It was our reflection. I could see my body lying flat against the mattress, rocking and bouncing with the mattress, as James hovered over me, his hips thrusting in and out as his cock reappeared and then disappeared into me. Holy shit.

I grabbed his hair again, feeling my muscles spasm, and he glared at me. I turned his head towards the mirror.

"Look at the reflection."

He gasped and then stared down at me. "Holy fuck."

I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him into me even deeper.

He groaned and thrust even harder and faster. "Still hate me?"

"Intensely."

"You won't."

"Don't sound so sure."

"Don't sound so overly confident," he retorted, hitting my g-spot with his hardest thrust yet. That did it. I felt my muscles clench, and I tipped my head back into the pillow, screaming his name as I climaxed.

I felt his muscles spasm and his load shoot into me as he came, yelling my name at the top of his lungs.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>*Sex Scene Ends Here*:<span>_**

I finally came down from my high, gasping and panting, sweat streaming down my face. James collapsed on top of me, and then rolled off, falling onto the mattress beside me, grinning like a maniac.

"Still hate me?"

Before I could answer, our phones vibrated simultaneously, lighting up with a new text. We glanced at each other, and grabbed our phones from the tangle of clothes on the floor, opening the texts: _**Calling all passengers! I have a clue for you as to where the Captain's body is: Blood on the ice. –The Replacement.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>So, um...sorry if anyone's offended by the sex scenes. And I'm sorry if they were horrible, I'm a little bit gun-shy when it comes to writing them.<strong>_

_**So, please let me know what you think of the chapter! It was a little bit of a filler, but hopefully it was okay. Anyway, review, because I love hearing from you guys! Oh, plus, there's the review button...It gets lonely, and it needs some love, and it would appreciate it very much if you could take a few seconds to write a review. ;)**_


	10. Chapter 10 The Puppeteer

_**I'm ba-ack! Aaaand with a new chapter of The DLS-S Cruise! Are you guys in shock? Anyone fainting? Screaming in surprise?**_

_**Disclaimer: Own BTR...well...I don't like to brag, but they happen to be sitting here with me, editing my fics for me...Okay, if there's anyone out there who would take that seriously, I don't own Big Time Rush, I don't even know them, and they're definitely not here with me. But wouldn't that be awesome if they were?**_

_**Warnings: No smut in this chapter (I bet some of you just muttered "Oh thank goodness" ;D). But, there's the usual strong language, innuendos, and morbid topics.**_

_**LOVEROFPATROMEANDJATIE: Haha, thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it! And thank you for reviewing :)**_

_**Jatie 4 ever: Thank you so much! I'm so sorry it took this long, but hopefully the next chapter will be up quicker. :) And thanks for letting me know that those, umm...scenes were fine *blush*. ;) And I'm so happy you liked the Logan/Camille scene! Weellll...I don't want to give away any surprises...But you may or may not recognize The Replacement when/if they're finally revealed ;) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing!**_

_**PopcornLover: Thank you very much! Awww, thank you! I hope you weren't uncomfortable with them. Well, I couldn't keep Logan a jerk forever...as for Kendall, he's a little bit easier to write as a brat, but that probably isn't going to last forever :) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing!**_

_**Anonymous: Thank you so much! I'm sorry the chapter took so long! And I'm glad you liked the scenes ;) Thanks again, and thank you for reviewing!**_

_**misslittlemaslow: Wow, I got 2 different reviews from you on different things! First of all, thank you for your opinion, and I'm sorry if you were offended by the scenes. Just as a warning, there might be more of those scenes later on in the story. Second off, I'm so happy you're enjoying the story otherwise! So thank you, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**jenifrelizabeth: Thank you very much! I'm glad the last chapter made up for Chapter 8's ending ;) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing!**_

_**Hakari Crystal: A HUGE thank you so much for all of your reviews, and for reminding me that I needed to get the chapter up. I'm so, so sorry that it took so long for the chapter to be posted, and I'll explain why in a moment. But thank you, because you gave me a much-needed kick in the ass :)**_

_**And THANK YOU to everyone who has alerted, favorited, or reviewed this story!**_

**_And special thanks to PurpleRocks13 for giving me the idea for the twist in this chapter, even if she didn't realize it at the time! You'll see what I mean when you read it! And special thanks to Jatieluv for helping me out with a rather morbid problem._**

_**I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to get up! I actually wrote most of it in the space of 12 hours, last weekend, but thi.s is the last week of actual classes, and next week is finals, and the workload just increased dramatically, so I didn't get around to editing it until today. Plus, I actually had a bit of a block with this chapter, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it next. So, um, there's a slight twist in there, because that seems to be my style - when in doubt, add a twist.**_

**_Anyway, I've also been busy with my oneshot ("Hey Katie, Wanna Hear a Secret?") which was posted a few days ago, and with several stories that I'm working on with Jatieluv. We have a joint account - JatieFantasy - for those of you who are interested. But be warned, the stories are mature, mainly because we both have overactive imaginations ;)_**

**_Soooo...enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10 – The Puppeteer<strong>

**May 4****th****, Sunday, 3:32 AM**

**Katie's POV**

What? No mocking text about giving into our desires or something? The Replacement was obviously slipping, considering that they had missed the newsflash about James and me having sex…how many times now?

James stared at the screen of his phone blankly. "What the fuck does this mean? 'Blood on the ice'? That sounds like a hockey rink after a really violent match. But there isn't a hockey rink on this God-forsaken ship!" He hurtled his phone across the room. It fell right into the suitcase that was still open, from when he had come in earlier to grab his swim trunks.

He wiggled down under the covers so that he was hiding under them. "Shit…shit, shit, shit. Fuuuck…"

"And you're adding to the God-forsaken-ness by using expletives obsessively?" I commented.

"Shut up."

"Don't feel like it."

"Katie," he warned me.

"Yes?"

"Forget it," he grumbled, his words muffled from under the blankets.

My phone vibrated. I couldn't tell if James's did too, but I figured it had, considering the new message I had just gotten from The Replacement: _**Well, well, well. James and Katie, congratulations on consummating your reborn relationship! If I do say so myself, you two were extremely hot together. Now that's entertainment! Keep it up you two, this is so much fun! Oh, by the way…Whatever happened to the birth control in the medicine cabinet? Katie, James, you two never used any. And considering the multiple runs, the Morning After Pill might not work so well now. Wow…I would hate to kill an expecting mother and father. But that doesn't mean I won't. Keep that in mind. –The Replacement.**_

Ah. The world had righted itself again. The Replacement was once more sending personal messages directed right at James and me and…

"Shit."

James pulled the covers back from his head. "What?"

I showed him the text. "We never used birth control."

His face went white. "Fuck, we didn't."

"I mean, I was on the pill, but I kind of stopped when all this – " I gestured around us, meaning The Replacement and the DLS-S Cruise " – happened."

He looked over at me. "Is it going to…I mean…could you be pregnant?"

I looked back over at him, eyes wide. "I don't – I don't know. I have no idea."

"When will you know for sure?"

"Ummm…like in 10 days or something?" I quickly counted the days in my head. "My period should be starting within the next few days, so I guess if I miss it…"

"We might be dead by then," James whispered. "What if I'm an expecting father and I won't ever find out?"

"What if I'm an expecting mother?" I murmured back. "What if – what if – what if I find out, and then BOOM! I'm dead?"

James reached over and pulled me to him. "That's not going to happen. I'm going to make sure we all get off this ship alive. Come on, since when have we ever not been able to get ourselves out of something?"

I sniffed and buried my face in his bare shoulder. "You guys couldn't keep from breaking up the band."

I felt him freeze. "Katie, that's something entirely different – "

I pushed away from him. "No it isn't! It – it impacted everyone! It ruined my life! I got my home, my friends, my family, the guy who I was in love with, taken away from me, all because of one stupid fight!"

"Katie – "

"No, James! Maybe your life got better, but mine didn't! You don't know how much it messed with everything! And you never tried to fix anything! You never even shot me a text, just to say 'hey, what's up?'." I tried to pull away from him completely, but he held me fast.

"I thought about it," he whispered, looking like he was admitting his worst secret. "I thought about it every day. But I – I never got up the courage. I knew you were pissed at me. And you never tried to contact me either. I thought maybe…maybe you didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore."

I froze. He was right. I had never tried to contact him. And yeah, after the band broke up, I was pretty pissed at everyone. And a part of me – a huge part – didn't want to have anything to do with him after that. But there was a smaller part, that got stronger as the months went on, that desperately wanted and needed him. And then the pictures appeared on the internet – he would always be with a beautiful model or actress who I could never compare to. When that had begun happening, I had figured that he was over me, that I probably hadn't meant that much to him anyway, I was just an easy lay.

I had dated a couple of other guys once I reached college – I hated the guys at my high school – but those relationships never lasted very long, and I never slept with any of them. I had never slept with anyone except James.

"I guess…I guess I kind of didn't," I said quietly. "I was really angry when the band broke up, and I was…I was so hurt, James. You broke up with me minutes after you guys finished yelling at each other. I didn't understand…I still don't."

James looked over at me. "It's – it's hard to explain."

I wrapped the sheets tightly around me. "Well, can you at least try?"

"I don't – I don't know…I lived for three years with this secret…I was forbidden to tell."

I looked at him pleadingly. "Please James? I want to know. I need to know. Hell, I _**deserve**_ to know. Why did you break up with me? I thought it was just for some stupid reason…but it's not, is it? It's for something more…serious."

"Katie…"

"Is it? Or was it for something else? Please James, I need to know. What happened?"

He glanced away from me. "I don't – it has to do with – it's something completely – someone else was behind the band's breakup, Katie. Someone else was pulling the strings."

"You mean that you guys didn't break up because of a fight?"

"No, we did. It's just…Someone else wanted us broken up. And he was putting pressure on us. He developed a…a kind of hatred for Logan. We never found out why."

"Who was it?" I asked. "Who?"

James didn't answer my question. "He also…he also didn't like you. He said it was for the same reason he disliked Logan. I thought it was because of how smart you two are, but that didn't make sense, because Kendall is every bit as smart as you two are."

"James, who was it?" I asked, a bit more desperately.

He took a deep breath. "Arthur Griffin."

* * *

><p><strong>Kendall's POV<strong>

"What the fuck does this mean?" I roared, staring at the screen of my phone. "This is the most fucked-up text – "

My mom sat next to me on my bed, rubbing her eyes. "Normally I would tell you to go wash your mouth

out with soap and water, but…Under the circumstances…You're right, this is the most fucked-up text ever."

I read over the text again: _**Calling all passengers! I have a clue for you as to where the Captain's body is: Blood on the ice. –The Replacement.**_

"That is just messed up," I proclaimed. "What the hell does he mean by 'blood on the ice'? Are we talking about a hockey rink or something?"

There was a knock on the door. I got up, grabbed my good ol' trusty hockey stick from beside my bed, and went to the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Carlos and Stephanie!" Carlos called.

I moved the furniture that we had been using to blockade the door, unlocked the door, and opened it. Carlos and Stephanie scurried in.

"Hi," Stephanie greeted us once she was in the room. I closed and locked the door again, and went to move the dresser and chair back against the door. Carlos moved over to help me. Together, we pushed the dresser against the door, and Stephanie added the chair.

"So, what do you guys need?" I asked once we were all seated on the beds. "I mean, it's – " I glanced at my phone – "3:50 in the morning."

"The latest text from The Replacement," Stephanie answered at once. "We thought maybe you had some ideas about it."

"Because of the 'blood on the ice' part?" I confirmed, and she and Carlos both nodded.

I shook my head. "I have no idea what The Replacement's talking about with that."

Carlos sighed. "Stephanie and I kept coming up with a hockey rink, but that obviously doesn't make much sense."

"Maybe a butcher's freezer?" Mom suggested.

"Do they even have one on the ship?" Stephanie asked.

"What about just a regular freezer?" I spoke up.

Stephanie raised her eyebrows. "A regular freezer? Like one in a kitchen?"

"Yeah. I mean, what else could it be? Is there any other places that there could be ice on the ship?"

"True," she conceded. "But…wouldn't the cook have seen the body?"

"Depends on when The Replacement moved it," I told her. "I mean, we just got the text a half hour ago."

She nodded. "There is an alternative, but it's pretty sick."

I caught it at once. "You're thinking…like…packaged, like beef or something?"

She nodded again.

"God, I hope that's not the case. That would be – " I shuddered. "Beyond horrible. Beyond sick."

"I know. And I'm the horror movie buff!"

"So…should we go see if I'm right?"

Carlos nodded. "I don't think any of us are going to be going back to sleep."

So, the furniture once again got moved, and we crept out of the room. We headed downstairs to the galley.

"The door's probably locked," Stephanie said, frowning.

"Maybe," I agreed. "But there's only one way to find out for sure." I grasped the doorknob and turned. The door opened with a click. And that's when the eerie feeling of a setup began to set in.

Nevertheless, we ventured further into the room, and Mom reached for the switch, flipping the light on. The room was sparkling clean, somehow reminding me of how all the police department mortuaries look like on TV, all white and crisp and clean and surgical. It just added to the creepiness of the place, even though it just looked like an oversized kitchen.

"There's the freezer," Stephanie murmured, pointing in the general direction.

I forced my shoulders back. "I'll open it." I marched over there and yanked the door open…and leapt back when not one, but two bodies fell out, onto the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

"Arthur Griffin." I felt, rather than heard, the words fall out of my mouth. It was the weirdest, strangest, scariest thing. I had been keeping the secret for so long, a secret that I didn't even completely understand, that to actually say it out loud was just surreal.

I watched as Katie's face went emotionless, hollow. "It was him? He's the one who wanted you guys to break up? He's the one who hated Logan and me?"

I nodded, biting my lip. "Yeah. And I never knew why. I once asked Logan why Griffin hated him so much, but he just said that it wasn't his secret to tell, which never made any sense. Do you know why - ?"

"Why Griffin hated me? No. I have no idea. He must've thought I had dug up some information on him

or something…but I didn't. I never did. I thought if I did…" she looked away.

"Katie?"

She refused to look at me.

I slid two fingers under her chin and turned her face back to me. "Katie, what is it?"

She blinked back tears. "I thought if I left him alone, he might leave you guys alone. I knew he could shut you guys down in a second, and I thought if I was nice and sweet, I wouldn't give him a reason to want you guys out. But I guess that didn't work."

"Oh Katie…" I breathed out, and pulled her to me again, holding her tightly and stroking her hair.

"And now it's my fault that you guys broke up," she sobbed into my chest. "It's my fault."

"No it's not! Katie, Griffin's the one who wanted us to fall apart. You did what you could to keep us together. And we're the idiots who got into the fight in the first place. And it was over something so stupid too."

"Then why did you break up with me?" she whimpered.

"Because Griffin told me that if I didn't then he was going to announce to the world that I was sleeping with you."

"W-what?"

"He knew. I don't know how he knew, but he did. He said he would have me arrested, because you were underage, and he said he would make you sound like the biggest slut alive. He pulled me into his office minutes before Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and I got into the fight. That was when he threatened me. And then we heard shouting, and Kendall was brandishing an envelope at Logan, and that's when we found out that he had applied to medical school without telling anyone…and he had gotten in, and was planning on leaving the band."

Katie's jaw dropped. "That's what happened?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He never told anyone. He wasn't even sure if he was going to go to med school , but just the fact that he hadn't told us…that he would be willing to give up Big Time Rush…it was enough. By the time we got back to 2J, we had said some pretty horrible, unforgiveable things. And that's when we broke up." I closed my eyes. The next part was the worst though…

"_**James! James!" I pushed into my bedroom, ignoring Katie. What I was about to do…I had no choice…But she wasn't going to know that.**_

"_**James!" Katie appeared in my doorway, and then dashed over to me as I pulled a duffel bag out of my closet. "James!" she cried. "You can't leave! Please! You can't! I need you! I love you!"**_

_**I slowly turned to face Katie. "I can and I will. Big Time Rush is over Katie. You heard us out there. It's over! We're not together anymore! We're moving on. We're all moving on! And that means I have to move on from you!"**_

_**She took a step back, shock and hurt flashing across her face. In that moment, I wanted to run over to her and take her in my arms and assure her that I didn't mean it, that Griffin had put me up to this.**_

_**But I didn't. It was something I was going to regret for the next three years.**_

"_**You don't – you don't want to be with me?" she asked softly.**_

_**Yes! Yes I do!**_

"_**You're too young for me," I snapped. "This is illegal anyway. I'm not going to risk being thrown in jail for sleeping with a minor. And you're leaving tomorrow with your mom. I'm staying out here in LA. I'm going solo. And I'm not going to have a 16 year old girl weighing me down."**_

_**She took another step back, completely speechless.**_

_**It was better, I told myself, preparing for my next verbal attack, if she left, hating me. That way, she would spend a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, feeling hurt and used, but in the end, she would loathe me, but she would move on, and would end up with someone who could be with her. Someone who deserved her. Someone who wasn't me.**_

"_**Did you think I was going to stay with you, Katie?" I mockingly asked, trying not to cringe or breakdown at my words. "Did you think I was going to commit? You know me – I'm a player! Did you think that you'd be the one to change me?"**_

_**Her lower lip was trembling and her eyes were huge. I knew she was on the verge of tears, but I had to say one last thing. I had to tell her the biggest lie I had ever told anyone.**_

"_**I don't – " I hesitated. I couldn't force the words through my lips. I just couldn't. I couldn't tell her that I didn't love her. I tried again. "I don't – " but the words were caught on my tongue, like they had been glued there.**_

_**Katie seemed to get the gist of it though. She stalked towards me and slapped me across the face. "Fuck you, James," she hissed. "Fuck you!"**_

_**I looked at her, trying to force coldness into my gaze. "Sorry, you already did."**_

_**She glared at me ferociously, and I knew she would hate me for a very long time. And then, the next thing I knew, she was walking out of my room and slamming the door shut behind her.**_

_**I briefly saw her the next morning, but we didn't say anything to each other. And then she, Mrs. Knight, and Kendall drove out to LAX and boarded a plane, and that was the last time I saw her…until 2 days ago.**_

"James? Are you okay?"

I was snapped out of the horrible memory by Katie, who was gazing at me worriedly.

I tightened my grip on her, and suddenly began sobbing. "I'm so sorry," I choked out, burying my face in her hair. "I'm so, so sorry."

She held me closer. "What for?"

"For everything I said to you when I broke up with you. I was horrible. I was cruel. I hated myself. I still do. The look on your face, everything about what happened, has haunted me. I've had nightmares about it. I'm so sorry."

"It's o – no, actually, it's not okay. But I – I have a better idea of what was going on. I understand better. I know you weren't just being a cunt. I know you were more or less given an ultimatum."

"Maybe I chose the wrong one," I murmured into her hair, still crying.

"Maybe…but if it had been me, I would have done the same thing. You kept yourself out of jail, and you saved my reputation."

"You were supposed to find someone better than me," I whimpered.

I heard her breathe sharply. "I was?"

"I wanted you to be happy. I thought it would be better if you hated me, rather than if you knew the truth. I just wanted you to move on, even though I never did."

"But – but all those girls – "

"They never meant anything to me, and I never meant anything to them. You were the one I was in love with, not them." I took a deep breath. "To get me on the DLS-S Cruise, The Replacement used you against me. He left pictures of you recently, on my bed the night I got the invitation. He threatened you. He knew I would give in."

She pulled back, looking at my face, eyes searching. She cupped my face in one hand, running her thumb over my stubble.

"I never meant what I said that day," I murmured. "I couldn't mean it. And I – I tried – but I couldn't say – I couldn't say – "

The next thing I knew, her lips were on mine. "You couldn't say that you didn't love me," she whispered against my mouth.

"Y-yeah…"

"I noticed it. It didn't completely register until later. I think I somehow always wondered if there were other reasons why you broke up with me, besides the ones you gave me."

"Is that why you didn't push me into the water when you saw me the first time on the pier?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, because there was always a part of me that hoped…and I still loved you. I still love you."

"I love you too," I breathed out.

She smiled and kissed me again. "You know," she said, pulling back, a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "we still have plenty of time before we need to show our faces at breakfast."

"Ye-ah…"

"So…" she rolled me over onto my back. "We have plenty of time. Show me just how much you want to be forgiven."

I grinned and pulled her down on top of me. "I can do that."

* * *

><p><strong>Stephanie's POV<strong>

I'm a horror movie buff. I can handle gore. I can handle bloody murders. I can handle stupid plotlines. But the sight of two bodies falling out of a freezer? That one was a little bit harder.

One of the bodies was definitely Captain Montgomery's. The other one…I didn't recognize the man, but Kendall obviously did.

"He's the cook," he proclaimed. "I saw him this evening. Oh God…this evening…"

Mrs. Knight and Carlos both put hands on his shoulders to steady him as he swayed slightly, face going pale.

He buried his face in his hands. "Oh my God…Oh my God…Oh my God…"

"Let's get him out of here," Mrs. Knight said, ushering her son out. "Breathe, Kendall, breathe."

Carlos closed the door behind him and pulled me into him, holding me from behind.

Kendall obeyed, his breathing slowly steadying.

I couldn't get the sight of the two bodies, frozen and blue, out of my mind. They just kept flashing in front of my eyes.

Carlos's grip tightened on me and his chin rested on my head.

"Come on," Mrs. Knight said quietly after several minutes. "Let's go back to bed."

"But what are we going to do about the bodies?" Carlos asked.

She shook her head. "There's really nothing we can do right now."

"We need to put them back in the freezer, at least, before they de-thaw," Carlos argued. "Who knows what'll happen then?"

Kendall nodded. "Come on, let's go put them back in."

Mrs. Knight looked slightly green, so I took her arm. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your room."

She nodded, and we walked back up to the room she shared with Kendall.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked her worriedly.

She nodded again. "Yeah. It was just a – a nasty shock."

I smiled sympathetically. "I know, tell me about it."

She paused. "You know, I haven't seen Katie and James since she stormed off and he decided to go for a swim. Do you know what happened to them?"

I shook my head. "I haven't seen them since. But I know James got to their room, Carlos and I walked with him, so…" My jaw dropped. There was exactly one thing I could think of that they could have been doing for so long…and it was not parent-appropriate.

Mrs. Knight smiled slightly. "I see you've come to the same conclusion as me."

"Oh…I'm – I'm sure that's not – I mean – they wouldn't – "

Mama Knight laughed. "Oh, I think they would."

"We are – we are talking about them – "

"Having sex? Fucking? Banging? Whatever you kids call it nowadays?"

Shocked, I nodded.

"Yeah, that's what we're talking about."

"But you're – you're acting like this is every day stuff!"

She shrugged. "Something went on between those two 3 years ago. I don't know what, but something happened. But the way I've got it figured, we could be dead in 2 weeks. Let's let them enjoy themselves while they can, because who knows if and when they'll get the chance again."

I smiled weakly. "I should go back to my room. 'Night, Mrs. Knight."

"Good night, Stephanie."

I left the room and headed back to Carlos's and my room. Wow. She was actually okay with her

daughter having sex with James Diamond? But in some ways, it kind of made sense. I mean, like she had said, we could all be dead within the next 2 weeks, so really, if James and Katie wanted to fuck like animals, then they should be allowed to.

Carlos joined me a few minutes later. "I'm taking a shower," he announced at once. "I don't know how toxic a frozen body is, but I'm not taking any chances."

I smirked. "Want me to join you?"

He grinned. "You read my mind."

"By the way, Mama Knight and I think that Katie and James are fucking each other into Moscow. Do you want to use body wash or soap?"

"W-w-w-what?"

"Body wash or soap, Carlos?"

He stared at me. "That's not – I mean…Body wash…WHAT?"

"Did the body wash wrong you or something?"

"Stephanie!"

"Yes?"

"You and Mama Knight think James and Katie are – are – are – ?"

"Yeah."

Carlos sank down onto the bed. "It makes sense. They didn't show up for lunch or dinner. And goodness knows, there's been so much sexual tension between them already…"

I sat down next to him. "Did they ever date when they were younger?"

He shook his head. "I don't – I don't know. I mean, I could say no, but I honestly don't know. There would be moments, in the last few months before the band broke up, that I thought I would see them exchange a look, or I'd wake up and James wouldn't be in his bed, and I'd hear something…suspicious…coming from Katie's room, but I always figured it was because I was still half-asleep, and he was probably just in the bathroom or something." He sighed. "If they did…Wow. That's just…I can't even pinpoint the right word for it. I mean, on the one hand, it's disgusting, because Katie's supposed to be like our little sister, but on the other hand, I'm happy for them, and I know it would've taken guts, especially since from what I would have heard, they were having sex, and that would have been illegal."

"I don't – I don't even know what to say," I admitted.

He smiled. "Don't say anything. We might not even be right. I mean, I think we're right about them

having sex today, considering they just disappeared, and we know that James got to his and Katie's room okay, but they might not have had a relationship 3 years ago."

"True."

He got up and stretched. "Come on, let's go take that shower."

I smiled, just as my phone vibrated. I pulled it out. The message was simple, but direct, and a picture was attached with it: _**Ask Kendall why he hates Logan. – The Replacement.**_ I glanced down at the picture and nearly had a heart attack. It was a picture of Logan, in just a pair of boxers, passed out on a bed in a hotel suite, laying face down…and beside him, in a pink, lace teddy, was Jo.

* * *

><p><em><strong>So...Katie might be pregnant...the cook is now dead...Griffin was blackmailing James...and Stephanie just more or less found out about Logan and Jo. Wow, I think the story just went all film noir on me. Oh, and Jennifer Knight is okay with Katie and James sleeping with each other...yeah, I know that's not very normal for mothers (I ought to know...I had to play an ex-hooker in my drama class - I'm not proud about it...although she was fun to play - and my mom kind of freaked out), but in her (and my) defense, she knows they all might end up dead before long, so she wants her daughter to be happy, for a little while at least.<strong>_

_**Anyway, thank you to everyone who saw my A/N at the end of my latest Jatie oneshot and was able to either send me the video of the guys cussing (okay, I'll admit it, it was kind of hot), or was able to fill me in on what it was about! Virtual cookies to you guys!**_

_**Who out there has bought the new BTR album?**_

_**So, let me know what you think of this chapter, and what your favorite song is on the CD :) Oh, and the review button wants to know too, because it's really lonely and gets really interested in other people's lives :) Yeah, it's weird that way...**_


	11. Chapter 11 The Replacement's Warning

_**Wow! It's a freaking miracle! I'm actually posting this just a week after I got the last chapter up! Holy crap!**_

_**Disclaimer: Own Big Time Rush? Totally! They even took my French and physics midterm for me! Okay, okay, I hear you, I hear you. No, I don't own Big Time Rush.**_

_**CrystalHakari: Thank you so much! You're so sweet, and I'm so happy that you enjoyed it! Well, it looks like this time you won't have to keep sending me reviews ;) "Time of Our Life" is a fun one :) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**Bella Booo: Thank you so much! Wow, really? ;) In that case, it's a good thing I got the chapter up when I did xD. Lucky! I had to wait two days for it, since I couldn't afford it on iTunes, and I couldn't get to the store right away. Anyway, thank you again, and thank you so much for reviewing! :)**_

_**amayalake: Thank you very much! That means so much! And thank you for the video link! I really appreciate it :) Well, she might be pregnant...;) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**misslittlemaslow: (I love your name by the way ;)) You're welcome, and I'm glad to hear that! Oh, I'll definitely keep on writing :) You know, I'm seriously considering doing those scenes with Logan and Camille and Kendall and Jo, thanks to your suggestion, so thank you for that! I like your guesses :) I can't really say...Anyway, thank you, and thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**And my usual THANK YOUs to everyone who alerted, favorited, or reviewed (even though I do my best to thank those people) this story! Love you guys!**_

_**So, I got seriously inspired for this story by...none other than The Maine's new song, "Like We Did (Windows Down)"! Anyone heard it? I've been rocking out to it for the past five hours or whatever! It's sooooo good, and it kept me writing this chapter out, soooo...**_

_**Okay, anyway, enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11 – The Replacement's Warning<strong>

**May 4****th****, Sunday, 8:45 AM**

**Katie's POV**

I rolled off of James, giggling. "You know," I informed him, "you are really terrible for a good night's sleep."

He smirked. "I didn't hear you complaining thirty seconds ago. If I recall, you were too busy screaming my name."

I playfully shoved his shoulder. "You're horrible."

He kissed my nose. "But you love me for it."

I grinned and grabbed his face, pulling his mouth to mine.

When we finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against mine, panting. "So, am I forgiven?"

I smiled. "You're forgiven."

He returned the smile. "I'm glad." He pressed his lips to mine sweetly, hand cupping my face.

I laid my head against his shoulder, sighing contentedly. "It's too bad we're going to be dead by this time in two weeks," I said, half-joking.

"If we do get out of here alive, you should move out to LA," he said, pressing his face into my hair and sniffing.

"Are you sniffing my hair? And why would I move out to LA?"

"Yes I am. And so that we can be together. You can transfer to another college out there. I'll even pay for the tuition."

"_**Why**_ are you sniffing my hair? And I don't know…"

"Because it smells good. And what do you mean you don't know?"

"You're weird. And I mean, I don't know."

James pulled away from me. I guess something in my voice must have thrown him off. "Katie? What is it?"

I sighed, fiddling with the covers. "It's just – I mean, it's so easy to make promises when we've pretty much got a death sentence. But what happens if we actually do get off of the ship? What happens then? Do we really follow through with everything?"

James slipped his fingers under my chin and turned my head so that he could look into my eyes. "Yes

Katie, that's exactly what happens. Because I've been thinking of this since the moment we broke up. So I know I'll follow through with my promises."

I'm not going to lie, there was voice inside my head that was screaming at me that I was being stupid, that this was just a spur of the moment deal, that he wouldn't think twice about me if we ever got off of this damn ship. And then there was another voice yelling at the first voice, insisting that James meant it.

James sighed and pushed the covers back. "I see."

"No – James – "

"I'm forgiven, but you still don't trust me," he said, sounding both sad and hurt. He reached for his boxers and slipped them on.

"James – " but what could I say? I did forgive him, but I wasn't sure I could trust him. I wasn't sure I knew how.

"No Katie, it's okay, I understand."

"No, you _**don't**_!"

I crawled out of bed, and James immediately tossed me his shirt, I guess so that he didn't have to argue with me when I was naked.

I slid it on and walked over to him. "James, for the past three years, the only person who I can honestly say I've trusted is my mom. And even her…I mean, I trust her with my wellbeing, but I don't trust her with everything. After the fight three years ago, it felt like everyone betrayed my trust, and I think I forgot how to trust people. Sometimes, I think I forgot how to love people."

There was a long hesitation, in which James took that in, but when he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "It – it isn't easy living in LA, Katie. Out there, no one really knows what it's like to be truly happy with just one person. No one knows what love is. It's like an entire different planet from Minnesota. And sometimes _**I**_ think_** I**_ forgot how to love. I was a coldhearted bastard to you, and I used to worry that maybe that fucked me up. Maybe it did. Maybe I am fucked up. Maybe we're both fucked up now."

"Maybe I was too young," I said softly. "I was only 16 and you were 19, and we were having sex. That's so young, and I wasn't…I wasn't prepared the night it happened for the first time."

"Maybe I was too pushy," he replied quietly. "Maybe I let my hormones take over. I wasn't thinking about how sleeping with you was going to affect you. I only knew what I wanted, and…and all I wanted was to be with you. But maybe it was too rushed. Maybe if we had talked things over, figured things out, maybe…no, if we hadn't had sex, Griffin wouldn't have had anything to blackmail me with. The night we broke up wouldn't have happened."

I took a tentative step towards James, and then another, until I reached him. "All I know is that, even though I don't know if I can trust you, I love you so much, and I don't think I can handle losing you again.

I _**need**_ you, James. I need you so badly." I felt my voice crack slightly.

James closed the distance between us, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me flat against him. "I need you too, Katie," he murmured, his voice filled with emotion. "I just wish there was something I could do to erase everything that had happened."

"It's our past, it makes us who we are…it makes our relationship what it is. And I don't regret it, now that I know what really happened. Actually, I don't think I ever really regretted it."

"Do you mean that?" he asked me.

"Yeah. Yes, I do."

He kissed me. "Once we get out of this mess, I'm going to make sure that we're together, always."

I giggled. "You are such a hopeless romantic."

"Maybe…or maybe I'm just in love."

I smiled. It was cheesy, but it was true. Love does the strangest things to people. Apparently it made me into a total fool, and it made him into a hopeless romantic.

James glanced at the clock. "Come on, it's almost 9. We should go down to breakfast. I'm starving, and I bet you are, and if you're pregnant, then you have a tiny, day-old fetus that you need to feed."

I sighed. He was right, I was famished, with my stomach growling with hunger. I hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours, and neither had he…well, not in the traditional sense, anyway. But I really didn't want to leave the peace and comfort of our room. Plus, it was like being back with him was reminding me of how strong a person's sex drive could be.

"We should shower before going down to the dining room," James continued, ignoring the slightly downcast look on my face. "Because I'm pretty sure both smell like sex."

"But it's such a good smell," I retorted with a smirk. "I know how much you love it."

He grinned back. "Yeah, but certain people will hate the smell on you. Besides, it's fucking sexy – which might be the point – and I might lose control. It's not worth the bloodshed. Besides, do you really want me fucking you on the table?"

Yes. It'd be hot.

"Yes," I said, echoing my thoughts. "It'd be hot."

He groaned. "You're not good for my sanity, you know that right?"

"Of course."

He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. "Come on you," he said, rubbing his nose

against mine. "Let's go take a shower." He began moving towards the bathroom, still carrying me.

"Together?"

"No, I have a mouse in my pocket."

"Oh, okay. Is he cute? What's his name? Can I hold him?" I teased.

"He's very cute, although not quite as adorable as you. His name's George, and yep, you can hold him if you can handle sharp little teeth."

"You named a hypothetical mouse George?"

James rolled his eyes as we reached the bathroom. He kicked the door shut behind him and pushed his lips against mine forcefully.

I am good!

* * *

><p><strong>Logan's POV<strong>

The second I stepped into the dining room, I could feel Stephanie's accusing gaze on me. Oh no. Was she never going to let this drop? I didn't rape her! I don't know what happened, I don't know how we ended up in bed together, but I am very confident that we never had sex! And I wish she would realize that, so that she would stop treating me like this, and so that she won't feel so…I don't know…I guess robbed. Depraved. Filthy.

I ignored her and instead just went up to the buffet table…where there was no food. What the fuck?

"The cook was killed last night, sometime after dinner," Carlos said tiredly. "The kitchen staff found his body, along with Captain Montgomery's. They're making breakfast right now, but it's going to take a little while, since they're in shock."

"We figured out what the clue meant early this morning," Kendall added. "The one about 'blood on the ice'. The Replacement meant the refrigerator. We found them, but we didn't know what to do with them." He sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "So we – we put them back in the – in the – in the fridge."

I gulped. "That's horrible," I said sympathetically. "Wait – who's _**we**_?"

"Me, Mom, Carlos, and Stephanie."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I sat down beside him, just as several of the kitchen staff walked in, looking white and tired and sad, but

pushing trays of breakfast food.

For the first time, I wondered how the staff had gotten roped into this. Had they come with the ship, or had they been hired personally by The Replacement?

"I've been thinking," I spoke up.

"There's a shocker," Kendall deadpanned.

"Shut up. Anyway, I was thinking…that The Replacement must be somewhere on the ship, since he seems to know our every move, plus he's already killed two people."

"Okaaay…"

"So, if we're going to get off of the DLS-S Cruise alive, we need to find The Replacement and – "

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Carlos halted me, holding up his hand. "You want us to find the psycho that lured us onto the ship in the first place?"

"Yeah, because – "

"But we'd be walking right into a trap! It's in every lame horror movie! You never go looking for the psycho! _**Never**_!"

I sighed. "But those are just movies. This is reality! And – and the way I've got it figured, if we can do something about The Replacement, then we can get off the ship alive."

"And what do you propose we do?" Stephanie demanded, eyes flashing. "Kill him?"

"I hadn't gotten that far," I admitted.

She snorted. "Terrific."

"Hey! He's going to kill us! This is self-defense!" I cried.

She snorted again. "Oh puh-leeze."

"Are you saying that we should buy him roses and chocolate while he tries to kill us? Stephanie, think about it! I'm not saying it's morally right, but…it's a necessary evil."

"Of course it's a necessary evil. Everything's always a necessary evil with you," she spat.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

She just stared at me, loathing in her eyes.

"So you'd rather us be killed? I'm not even saying we should kill The Replacement! I'm saying we should do something about him! Like maybe knock him out or something! I don't know, we just need to do _**something**_ so that we can escape the ship alive!"

"Whatever," she huffed out.

"That's it!" I felt myself lose control. "You are such a fucking bitch! You hate me for something that I didn't even do!"

"What's going on here?" James asked as he and Katie stepped into the room, jaws dropping at my words.

"Nothing," I muttered. "Nothing at all."

"No," Stephanie spoke up, as Mrs. Knight walked in with Kelly and Gustavo, Griffin following closely behind. Camille and Jo walked in behind them, rubbing their eyes, looking like they had only gotten about fifteen minutes of sleep the night before. "You want to know what happened?"

Here we go…

"Logan, Doctor Logan Mitchell, raped me five years ago!"

"And for the last time, no I didn't!"

Carlos's jaw dropped. "YOU DID _**WHAT**_?" he hollered, leaping to his feet, and facing me down.

"I DIDN'T! Look, we got drunk, I don't know what happened, and we woke up the next morning in my bed! She was naked, but I was only half-naked!"

"You roofied my drink!"

"Can you prove it, Stephanie?" I hissed. "Can you prove that it wasn't just alcohol? Can you prove that something else happened besides, who knows? Making out? Maybe just a friendly game of Go Fish?"

"She doesn't have to prove anything!" Carlos yelled at me. "If she says you raped her – girls have a sixth sense about that sort of thing!"

"Yeah? Well, if she did get raped, it wasn't by _**me**_! That much I do know! Come on, Carlos, you know me, you've known me since peewee hockey! Would I do that?"

Carlos fixed me with an icy look. "How the fuck should I know?" he snarled. "I haven't seen you in three years. You're the reason Big Time Rush broke up in the first place!"

James opened his mouth to say something, I don't know what, but before he could get the words out, Carlos pushed past me, paused, and then whirled around on his heel and punched me right in the face, knocking me to the ground.

"Carlos!" James hollered, as he and Kendall leapt in, Kendall grabbing Carlos to keep him from launching himself on me again. James helped me to my feet as Kendall pinned Carlos's arms to his side.

"He deserved it," Carlos spat.

"No I didn't! I know what Stephanie thinks happened, but it didn't happen! I would never touch her like that! I would never do that to a girl! For heaven's sake, Carlos, I was in love with Camille!"

I glanced over at Stephanie, and saw, for the first time, a flicker of doubt in her eyes – she was beginning to wonder if she had been wrong about me. But then I looked over at Camille, whose face was blank and frozen.

"I DIDN'T RAPE STEPHANIE!" I screamed, feeling oddly like I was at a court trial, and if I was found guilty, I would be sentenced to death. "_**Please**_…" I added desperately, James still holding onto me, "you have to believe me…"

Camille just let out a sob, spun on her heel, and fled from the scene. Jo threw me a sad look, and hurried after her.

"I didn't – " I felt my voice break. "Please…please believe me…I would never do that!"

But everyone just stared at me like I was a stranger.

Covering my face with my hands, I dashed out of the room, blinking back tears, choking on a sob.

I was framed! And no one, not even my oldest friends, believed that I was innocent. No one believed me. _**No one**_…

Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind.

"What the – "

The next thing I knew, I was dragged through the lobby, a hot, leather gloved hand covering my mouth to keep me from screaming. I tried to bite down on the hand, but the person's hand just increased the pressure.

Oh great. Just what I needed today. To be kidnapped. This just made everything so much better.

I felt someone tie a blindfold over me, and the next thing I knew, my hands were being forced out in front of me, and I felt something metal being clapped over my wrists, binding them together. Handcuffs?

I couldn't tell, but I knew I was scared. I could feel the innards of my stomach turning hot and twisting as each second passed both agonizingly slow yet painfully fast. Was I about to get killed? Was my body going to end up in the refrigerator? Would anyone ever believe that I was innocent?

Those were the thoughts that flew through my mind after I was handcuffed, in mere seconds, at the speed of light.

A cloth was yanked taught across my mouth and knotted at the back of my head.

I was steered in, well, I'm not sure which direction, since pretty much all of my senses had been cut off. But the next thing I heard, one of the only of my five senses that hadn't jammed, was a door open. And then I felt heavy hands on my back, and the next thing I knew, I was tumbling down. I felt a sharp pain in my head, and then everything in my mind went black.

* * *

><p><strong>Jo's POV<strong>

"Camille!" I called, racing after her. "Camille, please come back!"

All I could hear were her sobs as she ran through the ship with me following her as fast as I could. I finally caught up to her on the deck of the ship. She was leaning on the railings, her dark hair blowing in the heavy wind.

"Camille," I panted. "Camille…"

She answered me with a sob.

"Cami…Cam…I'm sure Logan was telling the truth! He's Logan for crying out loud! He doesn't go around raping girls! Come on, he loved you! And he and Stephanie were friends before that – that happened! And he probably wouldn't even know where to get roofies!"

"But – but – but Stephanie – " she sobbed out.

"Stephanie thinks what she thinks, and I'm sure she has every right to. But…"

"But?"

"Maybe she was raped that night," I admitted. "But maybe it wasn't by Logan. Didn't he make that suggestion? Look, I don't think any girl in her right mind is going to lie about being raped. That's just…that's beyond wrong. And I don't think that any girl in her right mind is going to immediately assume she was raped, because it _**is**_ such a horrible possibility. Who wants to face that? I just don't think it was Logan. Who knows what really happened that night? For all we know, he could have stumbled across her after – after it – after it happened, and he brought her back to his place to comfort her."

"She was naked and he was half-naked!"

"Which does not constitute sex! Maybe her dress was ripped or…maybe she lost it or something…I mean, the girl was raped! But my point is, Logan was probably just being a nice guy…maybe he was drunk, but since it's him, I'm sure he was still being fairly gentleman-ly. But if she was roofied, who's to say she's going to remember that part? She obviously doesn't remember that night. So…so…So she's assuming that Logan was the one who raped her, when he probably only happened to stumble across her and decided to help her out, only things went wrong."

"But can we prove it?"

"No," I admitted. "Not unless we find the actual rapist and get him to tell us what happened. And the chances of that are slim to none."

"But you don't think it was Logan."

"No. No, I don't."

Camille sighed. "Well, honestly Jo, I don't know what to think. I don't know him anymore. And I had no idea about – about that happening. Maybe you're right, but maybe Stephanie's hunch is correct."

"Yeah, and maybe we're going to happen upon a flying elephant," I snapped.

"He _**left**_ me, Jo! He fucking just upped and left me to go train to be a doctor! He didn't even want to be with me enough to apply to a school in Los Angeles! No! Instead, he applied to a school out in fucking nowhere Minnesota! And after – after – "

"After what?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Never mind," she spat. "All I know is, it was his choice to leave, not mine! At least you had a choice when you and Kendall split up. You were lucky. Kendall loved you enough to let you go and do what you needed to do, and you left him. Logan didn't love me enough to even tell me that he was applying to a college out of state and I wanted him to stay. How is that fair?"

"Camille…it was for my career..." I sniffed slightly, feeling a lump growing in my throat.

"Oh yeah, it was for your career! How amazing! Those were the same. Fucking. Words that Logan used on me when I confronted him about it! 'It's for my career, Cam,' he said. And then I didn't see him for three fucking years!"

"I'm sure he had a reason – "

"Yeah, the same one as you! You're both selfish bitches!"

I took a step back. I knew she was angry and hurt and lashing out at me, but that didn't mean that those words didn't hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Cam – "

"You're a selfish bitch! You and Logan both!"

"Don't you _**dare**_ talk to her like that!" came a voice from the entranceway. We both turned to find Kendall marching over to us, face red and green eyes blazing.

"How dare you call her a selfish bitch!" he roared at Camille. "You're the one who used to use Logan for your damn rehearsals! He's been slapped so many times that his face probably permanently stings!"

"Just fuck off," she spit out. "You don't know anything about the situation with me and Logan!"

"And you don't know anything about Jo's and my situation!"

"Kendall," I murmured, "she's hurt and upset."

"That doesn't give her the excuse to call you a selfish bitch!"

"Oh, just go suck yourself or something," Camille snarled.

My jaw dropped. "CAMILLE – !"

Kendall glared at her. "That the best you got, Cami?"

"STOP!" I screeched. "We're all fighting amongst ourselves! We can't do that, or else The Replacement wins!"

"Too late for that," Camille snarled. "I'm going to go find Stephanie and apologize for Logan's…God, I can't even put a name to it."

"YOU BITCH!" I screamed at her. "You're as bad as The Replacement, all ready to go and ruin his life for no reason except on Stephanie's word! SHE DOESN'T EVEN REMEMBER THAT NIGHT!"

Camille sent me a look that promised certain pain. "Just…go jump into the ocean or something."

"You don't listen to reason, do you?" Kendall hissed at her.

"Not when it's coming from someone who's exactly like Logan, minus the rape charge." And with those words, she turned on her heel and stalked into the ship, like the prima donna bitch she seemed to think she was.

I turned to look at Kendall. "Thanks for, um, defending me. She's just…"

"Hurt and upset, yeah, you said that."

"Well, she is."

He shrugged. "Doesn't mean she can just call you a selfish bitch or tell you to go jump in the ocean. That's the talk of a desperate person, of someone who _**wants**_ to believe the worst of someone."

"She wanted to believe the worst of me," I mumbled, leaning on the railings and looking out at the rollicking waves. The sky was blue, the wave caps a perfect foamy white, and it was easily in the high 70s out there. Under any other circumstances, it would have been a great place to have a picnic lunch. But considering the reason we were on the ship in the first place, it just didn't feel right. It just didn't _**feel**_ _**right**_ to have fun when we were all sentenced to die in a week and a half. "After what she found out about Logan, she _**needed**_ to."

Kendall placed his hand on my shoulder. "You didn't leave me, you know. I mean, yeah, you did, but not because you were being selfish. You were willing to stay for me. I'm the one who told you to go, who pushed you to go."

"I still shouldn't have gone," I muttered.

"Yes, you should've," he insisted. "Because if you hadn't, I would have been holding you back, and I would have hated myself for it, and you would have hated me too."

"You're not supposed to choose success over love."

"I chose success and love. I told you to go _**because**_ I was in love with you, Jo. It might have been one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make, but I knew in the end that it was the right one. It was the only way you wouldn't have hated me."

"I wouldn't have hated you."

"Yes, you would've, because I was the thing that was holding you back."

"Kendall, about the night with Logan – "

"Did you sleep with him?" he asked me point-blankly.

"No," I answered. "No, I didn't."

"Okay then," he said with a sweet smile. "I believe you." He paused. "Are you still pissed at me about being an ex-alcoholic?"

I shook my head. "Maybe I should be, but maybe I was just overreacting. We both have our mistakes, and we shouldn't be jumping on each other about them. But – but don't you want to hear how Logan ended up in my hotel room in New Zealand, in just his boxers? I mean, that was when Big Time Rush was still together, when you went everywhere together."

"Well, I knew he was going to be in New Zealand for some sort of medical thing."

"Yeah."

He looked at me. "Honestly, Jo? I really don't want to know. Not at the moment anyway. I'd just…rather not have the details right now."

"But – but you've been so angry with me for so long," I choked out.

He shook his head. "This conversation's over."

"But – "

He gave me a long look. "I want both you and Logan to tell me," he finally said. "And I don't want it to be in the shadow of Stephanie's rape accusation."

I nodded. "Okay. I can understand that."

He looked at me. "Can I – can I hug you?"

I was shocked by the request. He had never had any reason to ask that before – he had always just _**done**_ it.

"Of course!"

He smiled and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me plus against his body. I hugged him back, snuggling my face in his chest. And for the first time in the last week, I felt completely safe.

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

I watched as Logan fled from the dining room, looking like he was trying not to cry. Poor guy. I definitely did not believe that he had raped Stephanie. It was like he had said, Stephanie probably had been raped that night, just not by Logan.

"Nice one, Stephanie," Kendall spat.

"I'm telling the truth!" she cried. "You think I'd lie about that?"

"Why do you have to blame Logan? He would never do that!"

"He's the one I woke up next to!"

Kendall just gave her a dirty look. "I'm out of here, I'm going to go find Jo and Camille." And he marched out of there, looking beyond angry.

"That's circumstantial evidence," I spoke up. "It doesn't mean he did it."

Stephanie paused, biting her lip. "No…no, I guess it doesn't. But that doesn't mean that he didn't do it."

Carlos broke in. "Look, I'm sick and tired of this argument! The point is, my girlfriend was raped by someone and Logan was the one who all the evidence points to!"

Mrs. Knight stepped in. "Listen, I've known Logan for most of his life, and I can honestly say that I don't think he would ever do that. Whatever happened wasn't his fault."

"You can't know that for sure, Jennifer," Griffin said smoothly. "I mean, who's to say that Logan was always such a good boy? For all we know, for one night, he lost all sense of who he is."

I stared at him. "You fucking bastard. You _**sick**_, _**fucking**_ _**bastard**_! You hate Logan! I don't know why, but you hate him! What happened? He finally tell you exactly what you are?"

"James, you don't understand what happened."

"You mean I _**don't know**_ what happened! _**How can I understand what happened when I don't know what happened in the first place**_? You want to know why? Because no one has fucking told me!"

"You don't need to know."

I stomped over to him and stood there, face to face with him. "Right," I hissed. "It's always on a need-to-know basis with you. There isn't a word strong enough to describe you, Griffin."

"Hey, hey, hey," Gustavo leapt in. "He signs our paychecks – "

"Not now he doesn't! Those sorts of things, such as who pays us, doesn't matter on the DLS-S Cruise, incase you haven't noticed! We're all going to be killed, just the same, and it doesn't matter how wealthy or powerful or known we are. Status isn't going to save us in the end."

"I never said it was!" Gustavo retorted. "But if we get off this ship – "

"Yeah, let's just focus on actually getting off, okay? Then we can worry about important things like pissing off our boss."

"Just chill," Kelly interrupted. "Gustavo, James is right, who pays us isn't important right now. And I for one think that _**Griffin**_," she turned to glare at him fiercely, "is full of shit."

"I am not – " he broke in.

"Yes you are!" I interrupted him. "And I've had enough of this fucking argument! Katie and I haven't eaten in ages, so we're going to go get food, if that's okay with everyone!" I grabbed Katie's hand and dragged her to the buffet table so that we could begin loading plates up with food, as silence fell. Everyone was probably either wondering if Logan really had raped Stephanie, or why Katie and I had gone so long without food. I smirked at the thought.

"Logan didn't rape Stephanie," Katie said quietly. "Anyone who isn't _**blinded**_ by hate and anger can see that."

I nodded in agreement as I slid about ten pieces of bacon onto my plate.

"Hungry much?" she teased.

I smirked again. "I'm just getting up the energy for _**later**_."

"Oooh…is that a promise?"

"Naturally."

"We need to tell everyone about us," Katie whispered to me, head bent as she scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate.

"I know," I agreed quietly, pouring myself some coffee. "But not now, not in the midst of this whole thing with Carlos and Logan and Stephanie."

"Agreed."

We headed back to the table, where everyone was eating in stiff, angry silence.

It wasn't until we were almost finished with breakfast that Mama Knight spoke up. "We, uh, we found the Captain's body early this morning."

Katie and I both looked up at her. "Where was it?" I asked.

"In the – in the kitchen fridge…with the cook's body…"

Both Katie's and my jaws dropped.

"Oh my God…" Katie breathed out. "The cook…the cook's dead too?"

She nodded solemnly.

Katie dropped her head into her hands. "I can't – I can't believe this…"

"Two people down," I murmured. "And…"

"And more to go," Gustavo said with a nod. "The only question is, who's next?"

* * *

><p><strong>Camille's POV<strong>

I wandered aimlessly around the ship for who-knows-how-long after walking out on Jo and Kendall. In the back of my mind, I knew I was being beyond unreasonable, but I didn't want to admit to it. I was so angry with Logan, after what he did to me…And he didn't even know what he had done! That part just ripped me apart. I had never told him, and he had never asked.

After what felt like forever, I finally reached the lobby again and paused, throwing myself down in a red velvet chair. Who the heck had decorated this place? It looked like it belonged to the French royal family.

I knew I needed to go and find Jo and Kendall and apologize, and then find Logan, so that I could talk to him, no matter how pissed I was. Because what it came down to was, Jo and Kendall were right – Logan would never rape Stephanie. And I knew that, I could feel it, but my brain had scrambled everything, making everything seem so much worse. I mean, the situation was horrible, but…it wasn't because Logan had forced himself on Stephanie. It was because she _**believed**_ that he had.

I was ripped out of my thoughts by my phone vibrating. Hesitantly, I pulled it out, and opened the new text: _**Camille, I believe something you're looking for is behind the door to your right. Good luck. – The Replacement.**_

What the fuck?

Was it worth it? What if it was just a trap, and The Replacement locked me in?

My phone buzzed again with a second text from The Replacement: _**Leave the door open if you're so scared! But believe me, this'll be worth it…You might save someone's life. –The Replacement.**_

Wow, that was creepy. It was like The Replacement could see me. Actually, he probably could. He probably had cameras on me and everything. Just…freaky…

"Fine!" I said aloud, getting to my feet angrily. "I'll go check!"

I marched to the door The Replacement had been talking about and opened it. All I could see was darkness.

I held my phone out, like a flashlight, and quickly located a light switch off to the right side of the door. I flicked it on, and saw a flight of stairs encased by two walls. And at the bottom of them was…

"_**LOGAN**_!" I screamed, and dashed down the stairs as fast as I could without breaking an ankle.

He was just laying there in a crumpled heap, a blindfold over his eyes, his hands handcuffed in front of him, and a gag over his mouth.

Oh my God…

I reached the bottom of the stairs and grabbed him, rolling him over onto his back and ripping the black handkerchief that had been used to cover his eyes from his head, and yanking the black ball of cloth from his mouth.

I ripped his button-up shirt open and put my hand to his heart while watching his chest. After several long, heart pounding seconds (for me), I could see his chest rising and falling, and I could feel his heart beating under my fingertips.

He was still alive, just unconscious.

"Oh thank goodness," I choked out, letting out the breath that I didn't even know I had been holding.

I cradled his face, running my fingers over the planes of his cheeks. He was alive, he would be okay…

I had to get the others, I needed help, I didn't know the first thing about treating someone who had obviously been pushed down a flight of stairs, and the one person who would was the one who was unconscious!

Just as I was about to stand up, my phone went off again: _**This is a warning: Anyone who threatens to seriously mess with me will be messed with right back. Right down a flight of stairs, out into the ocean, the possibilities are endless. And it will be in the most cruel way possible, instead of just a quick, simple death. You have been warned. –The Replacement.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Wow...lots of drama in this chapter! I mean, there always is, but hey, check it out! Something else bad happened! The Replacement is just messing with them...<strong>_

_**Anyway, I finished my last final today, so I have about 3 1/2 weeks off, so I'm HOPING that I'll be updating a little faster now :)**_

_**So, you know the review button? Yeah...it's bored. It's been stuck at home watching TV all day, and it could really use some fun. So...click on it and let me know what you think of the chapter, because, like I always say (and it's true!) I love hearing from you guys! :)**_


	12. Chapter 12 Romance, Revenge, and Secrets

_**Wow...I don't believe it...Chapter 12 is actually here! Ohmigosh!**_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah...I've been trying to get on my hands on BTR for awhile. Hasn't happened yet. Until then, I do not own Big Time Rush.**_

_**Before I get to my thank yous, I am so, so sorry that this chapter took me so long to get up! I've been super busy, and I ended up having a block with this chapter. I'm so sorry you all had to wait so long!**_

_**Ameera Maslow: Thank you so much! It was very intense! Thank you for reviewing :)**_

_**Bella Booo: Thank you! I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for reviewing!**_

_**misslittlemaslow: I love your name! And James is awesome! Awwww, thank you! That's so sweet, and that means so much! :) Thank you for reviewing!**_

_**HakariCrystal: Me? Awesome? Nah...Couldn't be...But thank you! And I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much! And I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this next chapter. But thank you for leaving me such a long review, and for taking the time to review on your iPod :)**_

_**amazinglove5435: Interesting theory ;) And I'm sorry you waited so long for this chapter! But I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much! Thank you so much! And thank you for reviewing :)**_

_**And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has alerted or favorited this story!**_

_**Warnings: Language, innuendos, mild voyeur-ism**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12 – Romance, Revenge, and Secrets<strong>

**Camille's POV**

There were footsteps on the stairs, and suddenly, James, Katie, Kendall, and Jo came dashing into sight.

"Camille!" Jo cried when she saw Logan laying there with me cradling his head.

"What happened?" James asked, his voice low and rough and scared.

"I – I think The Replacement pushed him down the stairs," I squeaked out, my body shaking.

Jo knelt down next to me. "His hands are handcuffed."

"He was also blindfolded and gagged when I found him," I said, my voice cracking.

"How did you find him?" Kendall demanded. I could tell by the way he glared at me that he hadn't forgiven me for what I had said to him and Jo up on deck.

"I – I got a text from The – from The Replacement – "

Katie and James exchanged a look. "I thought so," Katie said. "We all got texts from The Replacement, telling us to come find you."

"Just you guys?"

"Yeah, as far as I know. We were in the dining room with Mom and Carlos and Stephanie and Griffin and Gustavo and Kelly, but I don't think any of them got texts from The Replacement."

"Just a select few, the ones who honestly don't believe that Logan raped Stephanie, save for Mama Knight," James said quietly, running his hand through his hair.

"Well, come on, let's get Logan out of here," Kendall suggested. "James, you take his feet, I'll take his head."

James nodded his okay, and we girls moved out of the way as the boys positioned themselves at either end of Logan's body.

"On the count of three…" Kendall said, his voice low as he bent over.

"Remember to lift with your legs," James told him.

"Gee, thanks for the reminder," Kendall snapped back sarcastically.

"Hey, I just don't want you to hurt your back, there's no chiropractor on this ship."

"Just shut up and lift when I say when."

"Fine. You are so bossy!"

Kendall ignored him. "On the count of three. One…two…THREE!"

They simultaneously lifted Logan up, pushing up through their legs.

"Hold the door open," Kendall grunted out, and Katie ran back up the stairs to keep the door wide open so that the boys could get Logan through it more easily.

They carried Logan up the stairs and through the door, and into the lobby.

"Where should we go?" James said. "Logan and Griffin's room?"

"I guess," Kendall replied, looking unsure. "I don't know if Logan would want to stay in his and Griffin's room…"

"Well, we have to put him _**someplace**_. And he's the most likely to have medical supplies in his bag. We can probably get everything we need just from his suitcase."

"True," Kendall relented, and the boys headed in the direction of Logan and Griffin's room, with the rest of us trotting closely behind them.

"Ummm…" James hesitated once we had reached the door. "We kind of need to unlock the door…"

"Maybe Griffin's in there?"

"Maybe."

Katie stepped forward and knocked on the door. It swung open.

"Well, that's convenient," she said dryly. "Anyone want to throw something worthless in there? To make sure that there aren't any, say, field mines or something in there?"

James pulled off an expensive looking gold bracelet.

"No!" I cried. "What are you doing? That thing has to be worth – "

"Not as much as our lives."

"But – "

"It's fake, Cami. It's from Griffin. Do you really think he would give me something so expensive? It's fake gold, it's not real."

I bit my lip. "Good point."

He threw the bracelet into the room. Nothing happened.

"Well, that was dramatic," he commented. "Come on, Kendall, let's get him in there."

They carried Logan into his room and laid him on the bed that was so obviously Logan's – it had a pillow with images of stethoscopes on it.

"Okay, what now?" Kendall asked, looking lost without his usual leader mojo.

"I guess maybe we should work on getting the handcuffs off?" James suggested.

"Great. Anyone have a lock picking set handy?" Katie spoke up.

"Nope, left it in my detective overcoat," James retorted, throwing a playful smile in her direction.

"Damn, don't tell me you left the bowler hat at home too."

"Yep, it wouldn't fit into my suitcase."

Kendall stared at them. "Huh?"

They turned to face him. "What?" Katie asked.

"What was all that about – "

"None of your business," she replied coolly.

"Were you guys…_**flirting**_?" He sounded completely disgusted by the idea.

Katie smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I would actually!"

Her smirk widened. "We were dirty talking."

"WHAT?"

Oh no.

"Yep. Role playing."

Oh no.

"_**WHAT**_?"

James was banging his head against the wall. "She did not just say that, she did not just say that."

"Yep. Damn, James, I really wish we had those handcuffs."

Oh no.

"_**EXCUSE ME**_?"

"Katie, stop," James finally said. "Let's take care of Logan, and _**then**_ you and Kendall can argue things

out."

"But – "

"_**Logan**_," James said firmly.

We all turned our attention back to Logan, who was still just laying there, hands still cuffed, looking bruised and bloodied, his eyes still closed. But he was still breathing. That was the important part, I reminded myself. He'll be okay.

"I'll go get a wet cloth," I mumbled, making a straight beeline for the bathroom while wiping my eyes with the back of my hand as discreetly as I could.

I quickly found a clean cloth in one of the cabinets in the bathroom and wet it down with cool water, before ringing it out and going back out into the bedroom.

They moved aside so that I could lay the cloth on Logan's forehead.

"We should try to clean up his cuts and get some ice for his bruises," Katie spoke up, apparently having abandoned the idea of traumatizing her big brother for revenge.

"I think we should wait to put ice on him, until he wakes up," Kendall argued.

She shrugged. "Whatever, big brother."

"I'll go get another wash cloth and some soap and some rubbing alcohol," I volunteered.

"Someone should go check out the crime scene," Kendall piped up. "You know, to see if there are any clues or something as to who The Replacement is or where they're hiding on the ship."

"I'll go," Katie volunteered.

"I will too," James added.

Kendall narrowed his eyes at them, and James just stared back.

"Fine, whatever," Kendall finally relented.

James and Katie left the room, and Kendall just shook his head. "I don't know what's going on between them, but I know one thing – _**I don't like it**_!"

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

The second we were out the door, I rounded on Katie. "Really, Katie? Really? _**Dirty talking**_?"

She shuffled her feet awkwardly. "We-ell…"

"_**We-ell**_?"

"That's what I said."

"I know that's what you said!"

"Well, you repeated it – "

"Are you really so determined to get revenge on Kendall for abandoning you and your mom that you're willing to give Kendall false information about us?"

"We do dirty talk."

"Not like _**that**_!"

She sighed and took my hand, looking up at me with large eyes. "I'm sorry. I just – " she took a breath. "I really just want to hurt Kendall. I know how bad that sounds, but…what he did was even worse than what you did! He just left my mom and me, all because he was pissed at Mom! He never offered me an actual explanation, he never tried to contact us, never sent us any money, nothing! Mom and I were living in our old house, I was going to the local community college, trying to get my AA degree, while hoping I could get the fuck out of Chasm Lake eventually. I got a scholarship to that business college in LA, but we couldn't afford it, even _**with**_ the scholarship! We were literally living from paycheck to paycheck, James! Mom and I were both working at the diner. I was sleep deprived and miserable. We needed Kendall, but where was he? Out winning every single game for the Minnesota Wild, and not even thinking about us! So yeah, I want him to be as miserable and hurt as I am."

"Practically telling him that we're sleeping together isn't the right way to go about it," I told her gently. "Can't you even consider forgiving him?"

"No! He needs to pay for what he did!"

"Katie, it's that attitude that's going to get us all killed! The Replacement wants us to all be pissed at each other, and vengeful! It makes his job so much easier if we all hate each other!"

"Yeah? Well, I might have been able to forgive you, but somehow, I don't think Kendall's reason for abandoning us is half as good as yours is."

I sighed. "Okay, we'll discuss this later. Right now, we need to go do some investigation work."

"Fine."

We went back down to the lobby, to the door that Logan had been pushed through.

We scouted around, trying to cover every centimeter of the area, but we couldn't find anything.

"Maybe there's something downstairs," I suggested.

"Maybe…"

We propped the door open with the guest book of the hostess's podium, flipped the light on, and carefully made our way down the stairs.

There was nothing in the immediate area, but upon further explanation, we stumbled upon…

"A bar!" Katie gasped out. "It looks like one of those speakeasies from the 1920s!"

It did too.

It was a large room, paneled all in wood, with a long bar and cabinets on the back wall, with small, round tables scattered all over the room, and dim chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

"I wonder how old this ship is," Katie breathed out.

"At least eighty years old. _**At least**_," I answered, my eyes roaming the place. "This is amazing!"

"Think The Replacement knows about this place?"

"Probably. He probably knows all the secret nooks and crannies in this place."

"I bet he does…"

Katie propped herself up on the bar, swinging her legs. "I wonder if this place ever actually was a speakeasy. That would be awesome. I mean, this place right here is a piece of history."

"That would be," I agreed, leaping up onto the counter next to her. "This place is gorgeous. It's too bad it's on the DLS-S."

"Well, I doubt it was always the DLS-S," Katie said logically. "The Replacement probably changed the name once he got a hold of it."

"Probably," I agreed.

I got to my feet, standing on the counter, and then jumped down to the other side of the bar. There were dusty bottles of various types of alcohol underneath the bar, and behind, stuffed in crates. I opened one of the cabinets and discovered even more alcohol.

I snatched a bottle from the shelf, wincing at the dry, gritty feel of the dirt and dust that had built up over the years. There was a rag at the end of the counter. I grabbed it, even though it had also probably been there as long as these bottles had been, and wiped the bottle down.

It was a wine bottle, and the year read 1918…just a couple of years before the prohibition had begun. Katie was right, we were standing – or sitting, in her case – in a piece of history. Also in the place that we were going to be killed, but that's all technical stuff.

And that's when something clicked in my head.

"Katie, this place isn't dirty or dusty. It's been used recently."

Katie's head snapped up. "What?"

"People have been in here recently, and they're keeping it up, but they're obviously not drinking the alcohol."

"But…why?"

"A meeting place?"

"No," she shook her head. "That's not it."

"But…then what for?"

"A storage place?"

"But…there's only alcohol in here."

Katie hopped off of the bar, next to me. "Let's see if that's true." She looked at the crates and peered into them. "Nope, this is all liquid."

She examined the bottles under the bar. "Nope, those are all alcohol too."

"What're you looking for?" I asked, squatting down next to her.

"I'm not sure…Maybe a bomb?" she added, a little sheepishly. "I mean, The Replacement seems to really love blowing stuff up."

"True," I agreed. "But I don't think there's a bomb anywhere in here."

"You're probably right," she admitted, climbing back onto the counter. "Who knows? Maybe the staff just likes playing Apples-To-Apples in here."

"Probably." I wrapped my arms around her waist and she leaned in to kiss me quickly.

"Mmmm," she moaned, resting her head against my chest. "You know, this place is completely empty."

"Besides us."

She pulled back and grinned, before pressing her lips to mine again, the kiss laden with suggestion.

I pushed her onto her back, and leapt up onto the counter, hovering over her. "Sure you want to do this on a speakeasy bar?"

She ran her fingers down my back. "Oooh yeah…It's hot."

"Kinky."

"You know it." She pulled me down for another kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Carlos's POV<strong>

I know my friends think that Logan's innocent. I know that. I'm aware of that. And I know that if they think he is, then they probably have a pretty good reason to.

But that doesn't mean that I'm inclined to agree with them. I know Stephanie, and if she thinks that Logan raped her, then he probably did.

Of course, she is only human.

I love her, but I know she's imperfect, and she does get things wrong. And considering that Griffin, of all people, seemed to be siding with her, I was starting to get a bad feeling about agreeing with her. Griffin had had it out for Logan back in the months before Big Time Rush had disbanded.

That didn't change the fact that I was still in the dining room, sitting in-between Stephanie and Griffin, with Gustavo, Kelly, and Mama Knight seated a few chairs down.

But I was uncomfortable here, and I could tell that the others were too, except for maybe Griffin. Even Stephanie was fidgeting.

"The others have been gone for quite awhile," Mama Knight finally spoke up. "I hope they're okay."

Griffin waved off her concern. "I'm sure they're fine."

"Yes, but with The Replacement running around – "

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

I turned to Griffin. "You don't seem very concerned," I commented, narrowing my eyes at him.

He shrugged. "Why should I be? One of those people is a rapist, and the others sided with him."

Mrs. Knight leapt to her feet. "Two of those people you don't give a damn about are my kids! And Logan is not a rapist!"

Griffin put his hand on Stephanie's shoulder. Immediately, I tensed up, and I could tell that she did too.

"He raped this poor, innocent girl," Griffin insisted.

I felt Stephanie shudder, and I slid my arm around her while simultaneously knocking Griffin's hand off of her arm. She gave me a grateful smile. "Come on," I told her. "Let's head up to our room."

She nodded and we both got up and left the room.

"Are you okay?" I asked once we were barricaded safely in our room. "You didn't like Griffin touching you, did you?"

She shook her head. "It creeped me out. I'm not sure why, but it did."

I nodded. "I didn't like it either."

"It felt…perverted," she continued. "Like…like…he was raping me just by touching me. God, now I just want to go and take a long, hot shower."

"I'm sorry, baby," I murmured to her, kissing her cheek.

She smiled weakly, and pushed away from me, heading towards the bathroom. "Logan's never felt that way to me. Not…perverted, or like he was raping me, or anything like that."

"You're starting to wonder if – ?"

She nodded as she paused at the bathroom door. "Yeah. I'm beginning to think I made a huge mistake."

I didn't say anything to that. She just made a sad, apologetic face at me, before walking into the bathroom and closing the door. A moment later, I heard the shower running.

I sank down onto the bed. She had confirmed what I had already been thinking. There was no way in hell that Logan had forced himself on her. There was just no way.

It was like the others had said, it wasn't in his nature. He was Logan. Logie. Logie-Bear. He respected girls. But then, the question remained: Who _**did**_ rape Stephanie?

I didn't have an answer for that. Who would? Who would want to? Who would do something like that? Was it someone she knew? A total stranger?

At least when she had thought it was Logan, she had known who it was. It would be a hundred times worse now that she no longer knew who had taken her innocence.

Would she ever know?

My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out of my jeans pocket. I had a new text from The Replacement: _**So, now you and Stephanie have finally come to the realization that Logan never raped Stephanie. And now, you are inevitably wondering, 'who did'? Well, Carlos, you may just be finding out… -The Replacement**_.

I closed out the text, biting down hard on my lower lip. The Replacement hadn't really had anything informative to say, but he had still got me thinking…_**Well, Carlos, you may just be finding out**_…He had made it sound like it was someone else on this ship…But who?

The shower turned off, and a few minutes later, Stephanie stepped back into the room, full dressed with her damp hair in a messy ponytail.

"Feeling better?" I asked her.

She nodded and came over to me. "Much cleaner."

She straddled my lap and ran her fingers through my hair. "I'm so sorry. You got so mad at Logan, and it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault," I assured her softly, hugging her. "You had a legitimate reason to think that Logan raped you."

"But even when he was so obviously guilty, he never admitted that he did it. And he's Logan! He's the king of logic! He would have admitted it. I'm so stupid." She buried her face in my neck, her body shaking with sobs.

I held her, murmuring to her and stroking her hair.

At last, she pulled back, still sniffing, tear streaks running down her face, and eyes red and puffy. "I'm sorry," she said again.

"Don't be. None of this is your fault. You had every reason to think it was Logan. And we'll figure out whoever raped you. We're going to find him. Don't worry, sweetie, everything will be okay."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked me, sobbing slightly.

"I'm determined."

"I guess you are." She ran her hand over my jaw. "I love you."

I kissed her. "I love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>Kendall's POV<strong>

James and Katie had been gone for an hour, and Logan _**still**_ hadn't woken up. Camille was beginning to pace around the room, while Jo tried to reassure her that Logan would be all right. However, I'm pretty sure that Camille was tuning her out – she didn't seem to be able to focus on anything.

Jo finally gave up and turned her head to look at me. "You've been awfully quiet," she observed.

"What?" My head snapped up. "Oh, yeah, I guess…"

"Worried about Logan? Or about what Katie told you and her and James? Because I'm pretty sure she was just B.S-ing you."

"Yeah, I know," I told her. "But what if there's some truth in it?"

"She's 19, Kendall. She's legal. She's an adult. If she wants to sleep with James, then she can."

I just crossed my arms. "I don't care. She's my baby sister, and I know what he's like. He can be a real

ass."

Jo giggled. "You can be a real ass too."

"True," I admitted. "But James is a hundred times worse. He's a player. Surely you've heard all the rumors about him, even if you were in New Zealand and Europe."

"Yeah, I did," she reluctantly said. "But that doesn't mean much."

"It doesn't?" I spluttered out.

"No," she said determinedly. "We're all different people than we were a few years ago."

"But that stuff just happened recently – "

Jo shrugged. "If you paid attention to the gossip, he hasn't been seen for a couple of months with a girl. He's slowed down a lot."

"Maybe…"

"He has," she insisted.

"Whatever."

"You love to believe the worst of people, don't you? You were always trying to punch Jett Stetson."

"Because he was always hitting on you and trying to break us up!"

"Oh yeah…"

I face-palmed. "How could you forget that?"

"Well, I haven't thought about it for years…"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you haven't."

"Hey, I've been busy!"

"Obviously! You didn't call me for four years!"

"Neither did you!" she cried back.

Oh. She had a point.

"Oh. I – I – I'm sorry," I mumbled out.

"You should be. And I'm sorry too."

I held my arms out, and she crawled into them, hugging me back.

"Mmmm…" she let out contented sight, burying her face in my shoulder. "I missed you so much, Kendall."

"I missed you too," I whispered back, stroking her blonde hair.

"I love you," she murmured.

I pulled back. "What? What did you say?"

She blushed. "I said…I said I love you. Because I do. I'm still in love with you, Kendall."

I felt my face break into my first real smile in what felt like ages. "I love you too, Jo."

She smiled back at me, and I pressed my lips to hers.

"Whoa. I tune into my own world for five minutes, and when I snap out of it, you guys are making out. What the hell?"

We broke apart to find Camille gaping at us, smiling, but looking incredibly shocked.

"Oh, uh, yeah, we love each other," I told her, pulling Jo even closer to me.

"Oh thank goodness, for a second there I thought the stress had finally hit you guys and you had gone crazy."

"Well, not quite," Jo replied.

"Well, that's good to know." There was a pause, and then Camille clapped her hands. "Will you two leave? I know you're dying to go and…ew."

I laughed and pulled Jo to her feet. "Come on, let's head back to your room."

"I know where I _**won't**_ be going," Camille called after us, sounding half happy, half disgusted.

Jo and I ran out of her room and dashed down the hall. I grabbed her and picked her up, twirling her around, kissing her.

She laughed against my mouth, wrapping her legs around my waist.

I carried her the rest of the way to her room, while trying to kiss her at the same time, although I had to set her down so that she could get her key card out of her jeans pocket.

Once we were inside her room, we locked the door, and she steered me to her bed, pushing me down and climbing on top of me, straddling me, so that she could kiss me.

Thank goodness we weren't doing this in Mom's and my room.

* * *

><p><strong>Jennifer's POV<strong>

I really, really despise Arthur Griffin. He was always a sadistic son of a bitch, but I swear, the last three years have made him even worse than he already was.

And yet, here I was, still sitting in the same room as him. Kelly and Gustavo had moved a few seats down, and both were fidgeting.

The furious tension between Griffin and I was beyond palpable. He knew I was pissed at him for acting like my children were a couple of criminals, and I knew he was livid that he had been chewed out by me.

Well. That was just too damn bad for him, now wasn't it?

Griffin finally sniffed haughtily. "When are they serving dinner?"

"Well, considering the fact that the freezer is currently being used as a tomb…" I quipped.

Griffin just gave me a nasty look. "Where're your juvenile delinquent brats? Maybe _**they**_ know something about how the bodies ended up in the freezer."

I fixed him with an icy stare. "I promise you, you say one more word about Kendall and Katie and I'll smash your face into the table."

Griffin glared back at me. "They are two brats, and the world would be much better off without them. Your daughter is a slut who James uses as an unpaid whore, and your son would rather throw up blood on the ice rink then do anything for anyone but himself."

Well, I never break a promise.

True to my word, I grabbed Griffin's head and smashed his face into the table, causing him to let out a yell of pain. Good. It's nice to know he feels pain, same as everyone else.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" he hollered.

"I told you, if you say one more word about my kids, then I would smash your face into your table. And you did, so I did."

"Fuck, woman, I didn't think you were serious!"

"I know you didn't. But you won't be messing with me, _**or**_ insulting my kids, ever again, now will you?"

Griffin just glared at me, rubbing his nose.

"That's what I thought."

"I will sue you for assault," he informed me.

"I look forward to battling you in court once we're off this ship. And what're you going to tell the judge?

That I bruised your nose?"

"I'll come up with a decent lawsuit," Griffin snarled.

"Oh, great, so you'll sue me for my crappy house and my crappy car?"

"If that's what it takes."

"You're unbelievable. We're sitting here, under threat, and you're threatening to sue me because I defended my kids? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Maybe your priorities are just off."

"I give up! _**I give up**_!"

I stood up and stormed out of the room. Who the fuck did Griffin think he was? I hadn't liked him when Kendall had been a part of Big Time Rush, but I had put up with him for the boys' sake. But no more. I no longer had to take Griffin's crap. He was no longer my son's boss.

Wait –

What was that he had said about Katie being James's unpaid whore? What the hell was that all about? Wow…He must've really been scrambling for something to accuse Katie of.

What a fucking bastard.

My phone beeped, and I pulled it out to find a text with a picture attached to it. I opened the text: _**Griffin may be full of bullshit most of the time, but for once, he actually has some of his facts right. –The Replacement**_. Curious, I opened up the picture, and nearly dropped the phone. There was a picture of Katie and James…in Katie's bed…right in the middle of…

Oh my God.

Griffin had been right.

They were sleeping together.

* * *

><p><strong>The Replacement's POV<strong>

I stared at the screens, enjoying the scene that was unfolding. Jennifer Knight had just gotten the shock of her life, courtesy of me. Kendall and Jo were currently getting it on in Jo's and Camille's room. Camille was pacing back and forth in Logan's and Griffin's room. Griffin was currently barking at Gustavo and Kelly to get him ice. And James and Katie were going at it in the old speakeasy. That should've worried me, considering what The Serpent and I were keeping in there, but they seemed a little too busy to notice something that they probably couldn't even see.

Perfect.

The Serpent came up behind me, eyeing the screen. He was the one who had financed my plans, the one who had lost almost everything because of Big Time Rush. It was because of his money and my genius that we were here, in a private cabin on the DLS-S Cruise, watching secrets be revealed and scandals be made.

But in a week and a half, none of this was going to matter. All that was going to be left of them was the video footage that we had of them. And who knows what we were going to do with that?

"Those sex-obsessed kids," The Serpent commented, his voice cold as always.

I looked over at him and smirked. "That's what makes this all so juicy. Their hormones are raging, and there's so damn much we can do with it."

"Not to mention all the secrets and scandals and history they have with each other," The Serpent pointed out.

"Exactly." I turned my attention back to the look on Jennifer Knight's face. She looked as if she didn't believe my text, or as if she was struggling to accept what she already knew was true.

"And then there's Griffin…" The Serpent trailed off distastefully. "You didn't have to deal with him, but I did. He's just…He has more issues, more scandals, then all of them put together – all covered up tastefully, of course."

"But of course," I smirked. "And that's why we're here, to show them the other's dark side."

"We really need to do something with the stuff in the speakeasy," The Serpent told me, redirecting the screen to the camera that showed James and Katie. They were in the middle of…it…on the bar, and their moans and screams were getting increasingly louder.

"No, Diamond and Knight will never notice," I corrected him. "They're too busy getting off on each other."

"The plan's still the same, right? We kill them and escape with the cargo?"

"Exactly. It's foolproof. Only we know where it's all located."

"And let's keep it that way," The Serpent told me. "You haven't deal with them the way I have. They're smarter than what you give them credit for. They're not going down without a fight."

"I can believe it. But believe me, there's no way they're getting off the ship alive. Trust me on this."

"Oh, I do. If there's anyone who can concoct a plan like this, it's you."

"Well, I did concoct the plan, so thank you for the very obvious credit."

"Now…I really think we need to do something about one of these passengers…They need to get what's coming to them…And we both know what that is. And it ain't two tickets to on a cruise around Alaska."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Wow...The Replacement and The Serpent, partners in crime ;) And Mama Knight now knows, kind of, about James and Katie...<strong>_

_**Sorry if this chapter sucked, I was kind of winging it this time. I'm *hoping* it came out okay.**_

_**Okay, so, classes begin for me tomorrow (blech), so I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up. I kind of seem to suck at updating when I say 'yeah, I'll update a lot now that I have some free time, blah, blah, blah', so I'm just going to say, it might be a few weeks before I update next, because I'm taking four classes, instead of three. But I will say that I'm HOPING to update very soon :)**_

_**Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter! It reminds me that I need to work on this story, and the review button is always happy to be paid attention to. :)**_


	13. Chapter 13 One, Two, Three, You're Outed

**_Wow...so after a month-long hiatus from this story, I'm back! I'm so, so sorry! I've just gotten bogged down with school work, other stories, bad weather, power outages, and I discovered earlier this week that at some point, the USB drive that I kept a whole bunch of stories on, including this one, was no longer "readable", so I lost a lot of stuff. But it's okay, because I think this chapter turned out a little bit better than it would have other wise, and I hope you guys will agree :)_**

**_Disclaimer: __You know, I've been trying to get the rights to Big Time Rush, but those damn lawyers won't hand them over to me. So nope, I still don't own Big Time Rush. Crap._**

**_Holy crap! 24 reviews for chapter 12! Thank you so much!_**

**_Bella Boo: Awww, thank you so much! You rock too! And I'm so happy you like the story! Ooh, good guess, but I'm not saying anything...;) Thank you for reviewing! :)_**

**_weaselonfire: Thank you, you're so sweet! Hmmm...maybe...well, we'll see ;) And thank you for reviewing :)_**

**_misslittlemaslow: Thank you for all the reviews you submitted! And thank you for the nicknames, I probably will use them at some point in this story, or maybe in another story :) As for those scenes with Kendall and Jo...Well, I'm thinking about it :) I've never done that with them, so I'm not sure how it'll turn out. Tell you what, if I don't end up putting any of those scenes in this story, I'll try to do a one shot for you. Really? Awww, thank you! That's so sweet, and I'm so honored! And James Maslow is awesome, so I can see why you'd feel that way =D Well, The Replacement's identity will be revealed...eventually ;) And I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! Anyway, thank you again for reviewing! :)_**

**_Yoyo: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for reviewing :)_**

**_btrfan94: Really? Awww, you're so sweet! And I'm so happy you like it! And thank you for reviewing :)_**

**_And THANK YOU to everyone who has favorited or placed an alert on this story or me! Thank you so much!_**

**_Wow, two posts from me in one night...That's a new one ;)_**

**_But anyway, enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13 - One, Two, Three, You're Outed<strong>

**Kendall's POV**

Jo led me into hers and Camille's room, and closed the door behind us, before wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling my face down so that our lips met. I felt my mouth mold against hers at once, and in that split second, nothing had ever changed between us. All I knew was that this was here, now, but location didn't matter. The situation, the circumstances, the DLS-S Cruise, none of it mattered. All that was important was us, her and me, and whatever was between us.

And the only thing between us at the moment was clothes.

Jo seemed to read my mind, because in the instant that the thought crossed my mind, she tugged on the hem of my shirt, and I pulled it up and over my head, tossing it to the side. She pulled back, panting, brown eyes glittering, as she yanked her own shirt off. She smirked when I didn't do anything.

"Enjoying the view?"

I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her to me. "Immensely," I answered, before kissing her full on the mouth. She responded immediately, pressing her body hard against mine, grabbing at my shoulders. I lifted her up and she immediately wrapped her legs around my hips.

I pulled my mouth away from hers and began to kiss and bite my way along her right shoulder, licking and blowing on the different spots to soothe out any irritation or pain, but she just tipped her neck to the side, moaning my name as she tugged at my hair.

I lifted my head up so that she could kiss me again.

"Wait," she said, pulling back, and wiggling out of my arms.

"What?" I asked as I set her down. "Don't you - don't you want this?"

"I do," Jo assured me, "but...You don't know the truth about why Logan was actually in my hotel room in New Zealand."

My head immediately began spinning. "But - but you said - "

"We never slept together!" she cried. "But...look...it had nothing to do with you or me, or Logan or you, but with a common enemy that Logan and I had."

I plonked down on her bed. I could tell it was hers, and not Camille's, because only Camille would have a black, gold, and purple pillow, with a golden star, complete with her name, pinned to it, which the other bed did.

"So tell me," I suggested. "Tell me who this 'common enemy' is. Who hated both you and Logan, but didn't mind me?"

"Well, I shouldn't say he hated only us. He wasn't overly fond of any of you guys. But Logan and I both found out stuff about him that he would never want us to know. It's one of the reasons why I didn't think Logan had raped Stephanie."

"Who is it?"

Jo fidgeted slightly. "I don't know if you'll believe me."

"Try me. I've heard some pretty weird stuff these past few days."

"Well...okay...Your boss."

"_**Gustavo**_?"

"No, the higher up one. The CEO of all of your butts. Griffin."

"You're kidding me. What did you ever do to him? What _**could** _you do to him? You and Logan?"

"I told you, we found out a whole bunch of stuff that he never meant to get out."

"Well, what was the stuff?" I asked impatiently.

Jo twisted her hands together and sat down next to me, her blonde hair falling into her face. "Griffin...He's...He's bisexual."

I dry choked. "WHAT?"

She nodded, looking down at her lap. "Logan and I walked in on him with, um, your bass player."

"You're kidding me."

She shook her head. "No. It really happened. Logan told me that there were other...ummm..._**incidents**_. And I found out that he also likes younger girls. Well, I mean, he's not really picky about the ages. Boys or girls, it doesn't really matter to him."

"That's - that's disgusting," I stated flatly.

"I know. I have never been able to get that - that scene - out of my head. It was the most horrendous thing I have ever seen."

"And Griffin knows you know?"

"Yeah. He...well, you know, he had control over Logan, since he worked for him, but he didn't have any over me. So he landed me the movie deal. I didn't realize he was behind it at the time, but a couple of months into the shoot, a producer mentioned to me that he was very glad that Griffin had recommended me for the part - and then insisted, quite heavily, that I get it."

"And where does Logan ending up in your bedroom in New Zealand come in?"

"Logan had just walked in on Griffin with two male prostitutes. Griffin was cracking down on him to keep his mouth shut, and he made Logan a deal: He could go to the Young Doctor's Convention in Wellington - the capital of New Zealand - as long as he kept his mouth shut. Logan contacted me to let me know about the update on Griffin, and Griffin must have found out somehow. I don't know how. But Logan and I made arrangements to meet at my hotel, only upon arriving, he was grabbed and drugged, and then left outside my suite. I managed to get him inside and I was taking care of him. He was just sleeping off the effects of the drug when you showed up."

For once, I had no response. The story was so crazy...And yet, there were explanations to questions that I had never completely asked, but had always subconsciously wondered.

Jo watched me mull this over, not saying a word.

Finally, I looked at her. "Do you know if he's dangerous?"

"Kendall, think about it - he had Logan drugged! I don't know what the point of that was, but I think it was supposed to be a warning - we needed to stay out of Griffin's business, or else something worse could happen."

I bit my lip, as a theory began to slowly form in my mind. "I wonder..."

"What?"

"Griffin insisted that I fly to New Zealand to see you. I'm wondering now if it was all a setup. I think he was trying to breakup the band at the time anyway. And finding Logan in your bed would certainly help with that. Plus, I was probably one of your only connections to him, so...Severe it, and you would no longer have anyway to get to him."

"Probably," Jo agreed, looking up at me again.

"So he was behind you leaving, Logan ending up in your room, and me catching you guys?"

"Yep."

"And then there was the band's breakup..."

"I have a theory about Stephanie's rape too," Jo added grimly, her mouth set in a fierce line.

"Wait - you don't think - "

"I don't know. I don't think there's anyway to prove it now."

"Probably not," I agreed.

"But we know it wasn't Logan...and Griffin's dangerous enough for it..."

"I know."

Jo sighed. "Well...now you know."

"Yeah, now I know."

"I'm sorry that it took me so long to tell you...But after Logan was drugged, we thought it was best to keep our mouths shut. And now, well..."

"It doesn't really matter?" I laughed dryly. "Since, you know, we're going to be dead in a week and a half?"

"Kendall - "

I stood up and retrieved my shirt. "Look, I appreciate you telling me this. I really do. But you didn't tell me when it happened. You let me believe for three years that you and Logan had hooked up - "

"I told you we didn't!" she cried, also getting to her feet and putting her shirt on.

"You wouldn't tell me what really happened. To me, that was as good as a confession."

"Kendall - "

"I'll see you later, Jo."

"No! You're not leaving!" she grabbed my arm, and pulled me back to her. "You can't honestly be getting angry at me! This isn't my fault! Logan and I were in the wrong place at the wrong time when we walked in on Griffin! And he's been after us ever since! This is his fault! So don't you _**dare** _take your anger out on me! Do you hear me, Kendall Knight?"

We stared at each other, breathing heavily, and then our lips crashed together. The next thing I knew, we were ripping each other's clothes off and tumbling onto the bed, with her on top of me.

She tossed her hair over one shoulder, resting her elbows on my chest. "If you think you're leaving now, you're nuts."

I smirked. "If you think I would want to leave now, _**you're** _nuts."

She smirked back. "That's what I thought." And she kissed me again.

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

James crawled off of me, panting, his usual perfect brown hair matted, bangs falling into his eyes. He grinned saucily at me and hopped down from the speakeasy bar. He reached for his boxers and tossed me my bra and panties. "So, having sex on a speakeasy bar, on the bottom floor of a ship. That's a new one."

"You have such a way with words," I retorted sarcastically, while smiling slightly as I slid my underwear on. "Seriously, you could be the next Shakespeare."

"That's what I thought!" he cried, propping himself back up onto the bar, now in his boxers. "I could write the next brilliant work of literature! The next Romeo And Juliet! The next Hamlet! The next - "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get the picture. How about if you try to be the next Mick Jagger or something?"

He got to his feet and imitated Mick Jagger, while singing "(Can't Get No) Satisfaction". "Think I could?"

"I think you look ridiculous dancing on a bar in just your boxers."

"Maybe, but I also look sexy."

"Yep, you're sexy and you know it," I deadpanned.

"Exactly!"

"Don't you dare sing that!"

He pouted at me. "But I'm sexy and I know it!"

"You're also crazy and I know it."

He stuck his tongue out at me. "See this?" he pointed to his tongue.

"No, I'm blind."

"Ha ha, very funny. Anyway, we both know what I can do with it...What you like..."

My face heated up, and I quickly hooked my bra up and jumped down to the floor. "That is not fair! That's sex as a weapon!"

"In a manner of speaking..."

"You dirty rotten - "

He landed right in front of me. "You were saying?"

I would just like to point out that I stayed my ground. Even when he wrapped his arms around me, I didn't try to back up. When he re-unhooked my bra, I didn't move.

Well, maybe I wiggled a little...

"You're horrible," I groaned. "You can't - I mean, you need to rest...You have stamina, but not _**that** _much!"

He flashed me a cocky grin. "Who said anything about intercourse? I plan on using my tongue."

My eyes widened. "James - James - I don't - "

"You used to love it," he recalled, sucking on my shoulder. "And I bet you still do."

"I - I - I - I - I - "

"Is that a yes?"

"J-J-J-J-J-James - "

"That's what I thought."

_**Ten Minutes Later...**_

"I won't be able to walk tomorrow," I groaned. "Actually, I don't think I can walk now."

"That's what you get for being a smart ass," James said, licking his lips.

"That's not fair!" I whined, my body still shaking slightly from the orgasm that James was kind enough to spring on me. "I'm always a smart ass! It's in my nature!"

"Well, for being a smart ass about how sexy I am."

"Actually, I was being a smart ass about your mental stability."

James licked his lips again, going a little more slowly this time. "Remember what I can do with my tongue...and my mouth."

"You're so mean," I moaned, and rolled over onto my stomach.

"Maybe." I felt him hover over me. His lips came close to my left ear, his breath hot and heavy against my skin. "Or maybe I just love seeing you in ecstasy."

A shudder went through my body.

"James..." I gasped out. "Seriously...I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow. I don't even know if I can walk _**now**_."

He chuckled and slid away from me. "Want a hot bath?"

"That would be awesome."

"Cool. So, a hot bath for two - "

"You're sex-crazed!"

"Maybe. Or maybe I just believe in making the best out of a bad situation. Sex with you twenty-four/seven? It has really improved the living conditions here."

I pouted at him. "Are you telling me you only like me for my body?"

He chuckled. "You know the answer to that."

"Do I? Do I really?" I rolled over and sat up.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine, letting his mouth linger over mine. "Yeah, you do. You wouldn't be half as sexy or beautiful to me if you weren't you. And by that, I mean wicked smart, mischievous, sarcastic, and never afraid to hold back."

I looked up at him, and then realized that I was still naked. James passed me my clothes.

We got dressed, and then turned back to each other. "I believe you," I said quietly.

He nodded, but his face was as serious as my voice, and I could tell that he was scared that I still didn't trust him. And maybe I didn't. Not completely, anyway.

"Give me time," I told him quietly. "A few days isn't enough for me to get passed this. But give me time. I _**will** _be able to trust you completely again."

"What if we don't have time?" he demanded in frustration. "We have a week and a half, and then after that...Who knows?"

"James..."

"It's true! We've been on this ship for three days!"

I glanced at my phone. "Ummm...four days, actually. It's 2PM on May 5th."

"Which means we just lost another day!"

"James - " I tried again.

He sighed. "Look, I just don't want my mistakes to...I just want...If I'm going to die, I want to know that you forgive me completely. And if I know you love me even half as much as I love you, I'll die happy."

"James, you're not going to die, and neither am I." I wrapped my arms around his waist. "No matter what The Replacement does, there's always a way out of a situation. We just have to find the way out of this situation."

He hugged me back. "How?"

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Of that, I'm confident. You just need to be too."

"Yeah...I guess..."

"Well, I know."

There was a pause, and then I said, "Come on, let's go up to our room. We can get some sleep."

He nodded. "Okay."

* * *

><p><strong>Camille's POV<strong>

It was nearly 6 AM. I had barely slept. I had barely ate. I just sat at Logan's side, reading, eyes blurry and barely able to take in what was on the page. I had finally dozed off around four in the morning, but I had woken back up almost two hours later. Logan was still unconscious...So nothing had changed. Well, that was something, I guess.

I groaned when I saw the clock and closed my eyes again, hoping to get back to sleep. I guess I managed to doze back off, because the next thing I knew, it was eight-o-clock, and sun was streaming in through the bedroom window.

I could hear the gentle lapping of waves against the hull of the ship, and squawking that reminded me of seagulls, but other than that, it was peacefully quiet. It was false security, though. I knew that The Replacement was probably watching Logan and me at this very moment.

Speaking of Logan...

There was movement from his bed. I sat up, realizing what had woken me, and jumped to the floor.

Logan slowly opened his eyes, groaning. "Owwww..."

"Logan! Ohmigosh! You're awake! Oh thank goodness!"

He opened his mouth. "What - what happened?" His voice was raspy, and I realized how dry his throat must be. I immediately thrusted my water bottle at him, uncapping it for him, and he gratefully took it, downing it.

"You were pushed down a flight of stairs by The Replacement," I told him softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You've been unconscious for the past eight hours or so."

His eyes widened. "Oh...yeah..." He tried to sit up, and winced, putting his hand to his head.

"We think you have a concussion," I said. "But I don't know what to do about that."

"Just...I think there's some Tylenol or something in the medicine cabinet. Could you get me some?"

"Sure," I agreed at once.

He smiled gratefully at me. "You don't have to do it now. You look exhausted. You should probably go back to sleep."

"Oh, no, I'm fine - "

"Bullshit," he said. "No offense, Cami, you're beautiful, but you really do look exhausted."

"I'm not going to go back to sleep. I got a few hours of sleep. I'll be fine. I just need to take a shower and put on some makeup or something."

He eyed me. "How much did you sleep?"

"A few hours - "

"_**How much**_, Camille?"

"About four hours."

He winced. "That's not very good."

"Hey, I'm used to it. I'm kind of an insomniac, if you'll remember."

"Well, yeah, but - "

"I'm fine!"

"Okay, fine. Sorry for being worried about you."

"Fine."

There was a pause, and then our lips collided. He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him. I shifted so that I was straddling him, our tongues intertwining and fighting to see which one would come out on top.

I moaned slightly as he slid his fingers under my t-shirt, gently tracing my bare spine. I could get used to this so easily...

He deepened the kiss, pulling me down even closer to him, so that I was almost laying flat on him.

"Camille..." he groaned against my lips. "Mmmm..."

I moved my lips against his, gently nibbling at his bottom lip.

We finally pulled apart, panting heavily.

"Wow," Logan gasped out. "That was - wow...I should get knocked out more often if that's the reception I get."

"Don't you dare."

He chuckled and then winced, clapping his hand to his head again.

"I'll get you that Tylenol," I said quickly, hopping off of the bed. I headed into the bathroom, and opened up the medicine cabinet. I quickly located the Tylenol, and snatched it up. Before I could close the cabinet door, however, I saw a bunch of small containers of pills, which I knew definitely weren't Logan's. These were stuff that was supposed to keep your skin winkle-free, and such. But one stood out. It was a plain container, nothing special about it, and it was labeled simply: **_Rohypnol_.**

The name sounded familiar, and it took me a few moments to realize just what I was looking at.

Roofies. Date rape drugs.

Oh my God.

I knew Rohypnol was used for insomnia, because it had once been prescribed to me by a doctor, but that didn't mean much. I had to ask Logan about it. I was sure it wasn't his, but if it wasn't his, then that made it Griffin's...

I brought the Tylenol, and a bottle of water, back out to Logan. He knocked a couple of pills into his hand and popped them in his mouth, washing them down with a large gulp of water.

"Thanks," he said to me.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is rohypnol in your medicine cabinet?"

He sat straight up, cringed again, and stared at me. "_**What**_?"

I nodded. "There's a bottle in your medicine cabinet. It's in with Griffin's things - "

"I don't - I have no idea - oh my God - "

I looked at him, eyes wide. "You don't think - you don't think _**Griffin's** _the one who raped Stephanie, do you?"

"I - I don't know...I mean, it's certainly a possibility..."

"It was so long ago...He might not even have had the roofies then - "

"Yeah...but he may have. I wonder if there's some way to see how long he's had the prescription..."

"Maybe it'll show on the bottle."

"Could you go and look?"

I nodded and stood up, going back into the bathroom.

I quickly located the bottle and checked the prescription. He had first been prescribed rohypnol six-and-a-half years ago. He had had it when Stephanie had been at the Palmwoods.

I returned to Logan, jaw set. "He had it when Stephanie was in LA. He definitely could have used it on her."

Logan nodded. "We may just have found the rapist in our midst."

"Wow..." I said, completely speechless.

"Yeah, I know."

I looked at him. "What do we do?"

"Confront him?"

"Maybe..."

"I don't know. But...that's not the only _**indiscretion**_, if you can even call it that, that he's had."

"What else has he done?" I demanded.

Logan took a deep breath. "He's...well...he's bi."

"Bi? Like bisexual?"

"Uh huh. Jo and I caught him having sex with our bass player, and I know he was with other guys...Ummm...male prostitutes - _**escorts**_, he called them - and he propositioned Mercedes's boyfriend. Her boyfriend was straight though, and he loved Mercedes, so he wasn't tempted in the least."

My jaw dropped. "Wow...But...are you sure he's not just gay?"

"He might be...But he's still married. I know that doesn't mean anything, but...It's a possibility that he likes both men and women."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I don't know what to do," he said quietly.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I guess we just figure it out as we go along."

"Yeah, I guess so."

I leaned forward and kissed him again.

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

The only thing that would make waking up next to Katie even better would be if we weren't trapped on a ship with a psycho who really wants to kill us. But that's really the only thing that would improve it. Because other than, there's nothing to improve. We could wake up in a cave, and I wouldn't care. I wouldn't give a damn where we were, as long as I was with her.

Katie smiled over at me. "Hey."

"Hey." I sat up and kissed her gently. She kissed me back, and then pulled away.

"It's almost 10. We need to get up."

I made a face. "Do we have to? Can't we just stay in bed for the rest of the day?"

"Nope. What if the others have some clue about who The Replacement is, or some other vital piece of information?"

"Fine," I grumbled. "I guess we should shower and dress."

She chuckled. "You're so cute."

"Thanks."

She kissed me again. "It's a good thing, believe me."

"So I've heard."

"Ooh, you get really cranky when you've gone more than an hour without sex."

"Correction: I get really cranky when I've gone more than an hour of sex without you."

"Tell you what - we'll go down and eat, do a quick catch up with everyone, see how Logan's doing, and then we can come back up here and so some catching up ourselves." She winked at me as she got out of bed. "Besides, I never said we couldn't shower together."

I quickly scurried into the bathroom after her.

Forty-five minutes later, we stepped into the dining hall...and discovered that only Mrs. Knight, Gustavo, Kelly, and Griffin were there.

"Everyone else is still asleep," Mrs. Knight reported, glancing at Katie and me, and then quickly looking down.

"Oh, okay," Katie said. "Do you know if Logan's awake?"

"Yeah, he is. I stopped by his room, and he and Camille were talking."

"That's good," I put in as I went over to the buffet counter and dished my plate up with eggs and bacon. "I wonder if he saw his attacker."

"He didn't seem to. He said he was blindfolded." Mrs. Knight watched Katie and me, eyes narrowed slightly.

I was beginning to get the feeling that Mama Knight was upset with me, and possibly Katie, for some reason, although I couldn't figure out why. We hadn't even kissed in front of her. Maybe we hadn't seemed to care enough about Logan? And we did keep disappearing after all...

Katie and I sat down at the table to eat, Mrs. Knight watching us discreetly the entire time. It was unnerving, to be completely honest. I couldn't figure out what was going on.

When we had finished, she looked right at Katie and me and said, "I need to speak with you two."

We nodded and stood up, following her out of the room. She led us to the room she shared with Kendall, and gestured for us to sit on Kendall's bed.

"What's going on, Mom?" Katie asked in confusion.

Mrs. Knight closed her eyes, and wordlessly pulled out her phone. She fiddled with it, before handing it to Katie. Katie took one look at it and gasped. "Oh my God..."

I looked at the screen and let out a soft moan.

It was a picture of Katie and me, in the bed in our room, right in the middle of sex...

"There are more," Mrs. Knight said quietly, eyes still closed. "From back at 2J, when we were still living there."

"Mom..." Katie began, voice quiet and meek. "It's not...I mean...it is kind of what it looks like, but..."

"You were having sex with him three years ago." It was a statement, not a question.

"Look, it's my fault," I spoke up. "I convinced her. She didn't know any better - "

"I knew _**exactly** _what I was doing!" Katie cried. "Yes, James and I had a relationship, and yes, I lost my virginity to him, but - "

"And you two are back together now?"

We nodded together.

"Well, now I know why you two were placed together. Sometimes I wondered if you two were together before we left LA, just some of the way you," she looked at Katie, "acted when I mentioned James, after we left, and I guess I was right."

"I'm sorry," Katie said quietly.

Mrs. Knight looked at her, but didn't say anything.

"It was my fault," I insisted. "I approached her, I seduced her, I broke her heart. And I'm sorry for what I did. I'll be sorry for it every single day of my life."

"He only broke up with me because he was trying to protect me," Katie jumped in.

"I still shouldn't have done it."

"Wow, now I know for a fact that I'm missing something," Mrs. Knight interrupted us. "Why would breaking up with you protect you?"

Katie and I glanced at each other, and then began to fill her in.

When we were finished, her lips were pressed together. "I knew Griffin was sick. I knew he had issues. But this...this of all things...My God! He's the reason Big Time Rush broke up?"

"Well, one of them..." I said. "We were already having some problems, but he was definitely the force behind the breakup."

She nodded. "Somehow, that really doesn't surprise me."

"So...are you okay with - with James and me?" Katie asked quietly.

Mama Knight looked at her. "I'm not thrilled about your relationship, when you were 16. You were too young for that...But I have a feeling you two realize that now. But now...I just want you to be happy. And it's obvious that James makes you happy. Although, I really don't need to know just _**how** _happy..."

She took her phone back as we laughed, a little uncomfortably, and deleted the pictures. "I never want to see you two in that situation again."

"Yeah, we never want you to see us in that situation again either," Katie told her.

Mrs. Knight cracked a smile, just before our phones all vibrated and beeped with a new text message.

We all looked at each other, before pulling out our phones and checking our messages. One new text:

**_Greetings to all passengers! An interesting secret has, of just a couple hours ago, been unearthed...Turns out that a certain passenger has rohypnol in his medicine cabinet...The same drug that was allegedly used to rape Miss Stephanie King. And who would this passenger be? Why, Arthur Griffin, of course! Wow, what a secret! Well, I could've told you all that it was Griffin who raped her. I just wanted to see how long you would all figure it out. So...shocked? Horrified? You should be. Seems that Griffin has a few more interesting secrets, which Mr. Logan Mitchell and Miss Jo Taylor are spreading rapidly. Griffin, it looks like you've been outed. -The Replacement._**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Well...That confirms pretty much everyone's suspicions about Griffin ;) A lot of you called it, and you were right. So, what'd you guys think? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? It might seem slightly rushed, and if it is, then I'm sorry. I just really wanted to get the DLS-S Cruise updated, so that you all wouldn't have to wait any longer. And I really hope the next chapter will be up much sooner than this one was.<em>**

**_So...Okay, well, I wrote a one shot for Jatieluv's birthday, which is today, called "Cougars, Bears, and Dogs, Oh My!", and naturally, it's a Jatie, so go and check it out :) And I'd be more than happy to write one shots for people, so give me a prompt or a situation, and I'll see what I can come up with :D_**

**_Anyway, let me know what you think of this chapter, and like I said, if you have any one shot ideas you'd like me to try, just review or PM me :) And I'm not too picky about the ratings, so if you want an M rated one, not a problem. Just...no tragedies, please? I'm sorry, that's just not something I'm really able to write. I'd just depress myself and everyone else. But the rest is all fair game :)_**

**_So, the review button is really happy to be back in the game, but it's out of practice. So click on it, and it'll get some practice time in ;)_**


	14. Chapter 14 The Assistant's Benefits

**_Wow...Check it out! I'm still writing after all! I can't tell you all how sorry I am that it took me a month and a half to get this chapter written! All I can say is that I got busy with school and other commitments. But I'm on spring break right now, so I thought I better get this written and posted._**

**_Disclaimer:__ Do I look like Scott Fellows to you? Trust me, I'm not him, and therefore, I do not own Big Time Rush._**

**_btrfan94: Awww, thank you! Logan and Camille are so cute together, so I had to put them together in this story. I'm so glad you enjoyed that particular scene! =D And thank you for reviewing! :)_**

**_lalaland_: _Well, it's your opinion. But let me know what you think of this chapter :) And thank you for reviewing!_**

**_misslittlemaslow: Thank you so much! Jo and Kendall are awesome together, so I had to make sure that was one of the pairings in this story. What did you have in mind for the story? :) Nope, I haven't said what DLS stands for yet, but that should be revealed before long ;) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! =D_**

**_And a humongous THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, or favorited this story! You guys are so incredible, and I really hope you guys are still around to read this after the month and a half hiatus!_**

**_Enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14 - The Assistant's Benefits<strong>

**May 5th, 11:30 AM**

**Jo's POV**

The truth was finally out about Griffin. And Logan and I had helped to set it free. I should have felt good, fantastic, like Wonder Woman. Instead, my stomach was churning with a mixture of sympathy and pain for Stephanie...and with fear. Griffin was not going to be happy.

I looked over at Kendall. "I have to go talk to Logan," I told him. "I have a bad feeling about all of this..."

He nodded, pushing back the covers of the bed, and tossed me my clothes. "I'll come with you. Something tells me Griffin isn't going to be too happy about this."

I bit my lip anxiously. "Why is it that right now I'm more scared of Griffin than I am of The Replacement? The Replacement is this - this - this invisible _**force** _that wants to kill us. But Griffin...I mean, we know him. We know what he's capable of. By rights, I shouldn't be so scared about outing him. I should be more worried about The Replacement. But I'm not."

Kendall finished dressing. "Griffin has mental issues."

"The Replacement probably does too."

"Touche. But Griffin...I don't know...but he's dangerous. That much I do know. He's dangerous. And we need to be scared of him, because then we'll be able to approach this situation with caution. We'll be smart about it."

"I - I guess so."

"Finish getting dressed so that we can go talk to Logan. And we should find the others, just to make sure."

"Just to make sure?"

"Safety reasons."

I nodded again. "Okay. Text the others to let them know? We can all meet up in Logan's and - shit."

He looked at me questioningly.

"It's Logan's and Griffin's room. But I don't know if we can move Logan. I mean, he has a concussion."

"I don't think we have much of a choice..." Kendall said, sounding unsure.

I pulled my shirt on and buttoned my jeans. "It doesn't matter. Let's go."

We rushed out of the room, to Logan's and Griffin's room. Camille was sitting on the edge of Logan's bed, and they were talking quietly. They looked up when we busted into the room.

I looked at Logan. "I don't think Griffin's going to be very happy with us."

"We didn't send out the fucking announcement! The Replacement did!"

"Yeah, but we were telling people about what Griffin has done, apparently." I paused. "Who figured out for sure that Griffin raped Stephanie?"

"We did," Camille answered, pointing between her and Logan. "There's a bottle of rohypnol in his medicine cabinet."

"Rohypnol?"

"Yeah. Roofies."

My eyes widened. "Ohhhh..."

"Yeah. Apparently he had the prescription back when Stephanie was still at the Palmwoods."

"Oh, wonderful."

"Yeah..."

"Anyway, Logan," Kendall broke in, "can you walk? We need to move you somewhere else. Just...just in case..."

"You think Griffin might go after us? Isn't that what The Replacement is for?"

"You never know...What if Griffin _**is** _The Replacement?"

"Then why the fuck would he out himself?" Logan demanded. "That's not something The Replacement would do - unless it was to throw us off..."

"The Replacement is Griffin?" Camille frowned. "I - I don't know...That just doesn't...That kind of seems impossible..."

I nodded in agreement. "We've gotten group texts from The Replacement when Griffin was right there with us, and didn't even have his phone out. And wasn't he there when we found Captain Montgomery?"

"So? He could have killed him earlier in the day," Kendall pointed out.

"Just...the idea of Griffin being The Replacement...It's kind of bizarre. I mean, I don't think it occurred to **_any_ **of us that someone in our group could be...could be..."

"Well, if it's going to be anyone in our group, it'll be Griffin," Logan said grimly.

"True," I admitted.

"But we have no _**proof**_," Camille reminded is. "We just have our opinions and theories. And I still don't think it's Griffin. It just doesn't seem like something he would do."

"It's true," I put in. "If he wanted to get rid of us, he would just hire a professional hit man or something to kill us. He wouldn't go to all this trouble to torment us. One and done. That's how he would do it."

Logan snorted. "That's how he _**always** _does it."

"Crude."

"I'm just saying. But Cami's right. We don't have any proof."

"So...what? We search his side of the room? His medicine cabinet?" I asked.

"I guess..." Logan thought for a second. "Can someone bring me his luggage? I want to see if he has anything hidden in there."

"Okay." Kendall carried over the designer luggage, gasping under the weight. "What the hell does he have in here? A couple of skyscrapers?"

"Maybe he has a miniature version of LA in there," Camille suggested with a grin.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"Did you text the others?" I asked Kendall.

"I'm about to do that."

I nodded, and Kendall pulled out his phone.

Logan began unzipping and unbuckling suitcases and duffel bags. "Ladies and gentlemen, the king of over packing," he grunted as he undid the fifth bag. "How the hell did he manage to get everything into his car?"

"He has a huge trunk," I told him.

"I could say something about his trunk, but you would probably slap me."

"I think the concussion messed with your mind," I informed him. "You definitely weren't this crude a couple of days ago."

"Awww, I think it's hot," Camille cooed.

"Gross," I said as I began to open up dresser drawers. "Wow, ironic - there's a bible in this one."

"Yeah, but it's hidden away. That could be symbolic," Kendall suggested.

"Let's not even begin to go into symbolism," I told him. "It'd just give us both headaches."

"Fine with me," he replied as he opened up the drawer to Griffin's nightstand. "Anyway, it's probably not even his. I don't think he believes in organized religion. Maybe it's the ship's."

"That's just as ironic."

He thought about that for a second. "You've got a point."

"Gee, thanks. It happens on the occasion."

Kendall grinned at me, just as Logan let out a grunt. We both turned to look at him.

"This suitcase is locked."

"Locked?" Kendall, Camille, and I all chorused together.

"Yeah."

"Can you just pick the lock?" I asked him. "I'm sure either Katie or Carlos has a lock picking set with them. Hell, we could probably borrow a set from The Replacement at this point. He'd love to egg us on."

"Uhhh...and if The Replacement is Griffin?"

"Then we tell him we're delirious."

"Oh, that's quick thinking," Kendall said with an eye roll.

"Can I smack you?"

"I knew you liked it rough."

Camille turned to Logan. "Am I the only one who's suddenly feeling slightly nauseous?"

"Nope. Is my face turning green? It's green, isn't it?"

"Real mature," I told them.

"You're the one who started it," Logan replied. "Anyway, this damn lock is electronic."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we'd need Griffin's password to get in. And..." he examined the lock a little more closely. "Unless I'm very mistaken, this blinking red light signifies an alarm."

"He's got an electronic, password protected lock, _**and** _an alarm, on his suitcase? Is he carrying nuclear weapons in there or something?" Camille cried.

Logan narrowed his eyes at the lock. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Katie's POV<strong>_

"So...so...Stephanie was raped by Griffin?" my mom was stumbling out, still staring in horror at her phone.

James had a slightly blank look on his face, but when he turned to look at me, I could see that his eyes had turned hard. He was pissed.

"I - I guess she was..." I felt bile rise up in my throat. Stephanie King...raped by Arthur Griffin? Oh my God...This was something like out of a horror movie. We had known Stephanie had been raped...but to find out for a fact that it was Griffin...that was something totally different.

Before, it had felt like something you might see in a TV show that you watching every few weeks. But now...it was reality. It was _**real**_. This had _**really** _happened to Stephanie, and it had been done by Griffin. What kind of person could do that to someone else? What kind of sicko would do that to a 16 year old girl? I couldn't even describe what Griffin was - there weren't any words that were strong enough.

"That son of a bitch," James mumbled from beside me. "That fucking son of a fucking bitch!"

"I know," I said, my voice shaking. "I know."

My phone went off again, just as James's phone beeped, and my mom's lit up. We all looked at each other warily, and then opened the new text.

We all breathed a sigh of relief. It was from Kendall. The message, however, wasn't as lighthearted as what I had hoped: _**Get to Logan and Griffin's room ASAP. We think Griffin might be The Replacement! We're searching his room...HELP!**_

We all looked at each other, and took off up the stairs, to the designated room.

James knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Jo called.

"Me, Katie, and Jenn," he answered.

"Come on in."

He opened the door and we piled in.

"Close and lock the door behind you," Jo hissed at us.

James did so, and we all turned to face the others.

Logan was sitting upright in bed, surrounded by about twenty pieces of designer luggage.

"Going someplace?" I asked him.

"Yeah, off this ship."

"Cool. Can you take us with you?"

"I plan to...

"And the luggage is going to help us? Are we going to use it as life rafts or something?"

"That's plan B."

"Awesome. What's plan A?"

"Plan A is we get this damn suitcase open, we find out whether or not Griffin is hiding nuclear weapons in it, maybe it proves that he's The Replacement, and we somehow or other use that information to save our asses."

"Okay, then. Operation use nuclear weapon to prove that Griffin is The Replacement. Makes sense."

Logan heaved out a huffy breath. "We're not using the nuclear weapon to prove that Griffin is The Replacement!"

"Then what're we using the nuclear weapon for?"

"We're not using the nuclear weapon for anything!"

"Then why're we trying to get the suitcase open?"

"We don't even know if there's actually a nuclear weapon in there!"

"Then why're we trying to - "

"To see what's in there. It's sealed with an electronic lock, we need a password, and - oh yeah! There's an alarm on it."

"There's an alarm on the suitcase?"

"Yep."

"We need to get it open!"

"No shit."

"Oh, shut up."

"We need to figure out how to open this," Kendall interrupted Logan and me.

There was a knock on the door. "It's me and Stephanie!" Carlos yelled through the door.

Kendall opened the door and ushered them in. Both looked tired, with pale faces. Their eyes were red and puffy, and I could see tear streaks on Stephanie's cheeks. I guess they got the news about Griffin.

Camille got off of the bed and went over to Stephanie, wrapping her arms around her. Stephanie began sobbing, tears streaming down her face. Jo joined them, and I walked over to them too, joining the group hug.

"It's like a nightmare," I heard Carlos said tiredly. "I - I never really thought it was you," he added to Logan. "I mean, I thought it was, but I didn't...I'm sorry, I know that doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't, but I kind of know what you mean," Logan said with a soft laugh.

"I'm sorry," Carlos added.

"It's okay. I can understand why you would think that."

"I still feel horrible."

"Well, you shouldn't. It's been cleared up."

"Has anyone seen Griffin?" I asked, pulling away from the other girls.

The others shook their heads, just as there was yet _**another** _knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Kendall roared, obviously thinking what the rest of us were thinking - that it was Griffin. He grabbed a lamp - which was plugged in by the way, so unless Griffin licked his finger and touched the light bulb, it would really suck as a weapon - and held it up like it was mini spear.

"Gustavo and Kelly!"

We all scooted away from the door as Kendall wrenched the door open. "Get in here," he hissed, and Gustavo and Kelly slipped in. Kendall locked the door back up. "There's one person left. Have you two seen Griffin?" he asked the newcomers.

"This morning, but he ran out when the text from The Replacement came through. We haven't seen him since."

"Do you guys know any of Griffin's passwords?" Logan asked Gustavo and Kelly from where he was sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"His birthday? The number of his billions of dollars? I don't know..." Gustavo said. "Why?"

"One of Griffin's suitcases is locked and password protected, with an alarm attached to it."

"You're kidding."

"Yeah. I don't suppose he just has a couple of cases of Yo-Blow in there..."

"Unless it's Yo-Blow-Up, I seriously doubt it," I commented.

"Try his birthday," Kelly suggested. "It's October 8th, 1950."

Logan tried several variations of those numbers, before shaking his head. "Nothing."

"Damn," Kelly muttered. "Ummm..."

"There has to be a number that means a lot to him," Logan grumbled.

"Or a name," James spoke up. "The name of someone important to him. It could be the letter's number. His wife? His daughter?"

Logan began typing those numbers into the tiny keypad on the lock. A moment later, he shook his head again. "Nada."

"Does he have any pets?" I asked.

"Griffin? Pets? Are you kidding me? The guy has no compassion whatsoever for _**humans**_, much less for _**animals**_," James snorted.

"Okay...so pets are out of the question...And we tried Griffin's favorite people's names...Maybe his company? _**Griffin Enterprise****s**_?"

Logan tried variations of that name too.

"Do you guys really think Griffin's The Replacement?" I asked.

"We don't know...But it's a definite possibility," Kendall said to me.

"I mean, just because he has a suitcase that's locked doesn't really mean much," I pointed out.

"No, and it probably isn't him," Logan agreed. "But he's dangerous. And if he has a password protected suitcase with an alarm on it, then we need to find out what's inside, because there could be something potentially dangerous in there."

"_**Potentially dangerous**_?"

"Yes. Potentially dangerous."

"Maybe we should go find Griffin...see if we can get some information out of him," Kendall suggested, looking a little scared at the idea.

"What kind of information?" Carlos asked.

"His password, for instance."

"Cool. Who's going to do it?" I asked.

"I'll do it," James volunteered.

"What? No!" I cried. "You can't! He could kill you!"

"I'll go with him," Carlos told me, looking a little confused by my outburst.

"No!" Stephanie cried. "Carlos, he's so dangerous!"

"We'll be fine," Carlos assured her, and James nodded.

I shook my head furiously, feeling my throat clench. "No! James! Please don't..." I blinked back terrified tears. "Don't leave me..."

"I'm missing something here, aren't I?" Kendall spoke up. "I'm missing something really big here..."

None of us answered him.

I grabbed James's hand, keeping him from leaving. "Please don't go...I have a really bad feeling about this..." And I did too. My stomach was twisting and turning painfully, tears were beginning to stream down my face, and my breath was coming out in short gasps. I was more terrified than I had ever been in my life.

James pulled me to him, wrapping his arms tightly around me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Carlos doing the same thing with Stephanie.

"Don't go," I begged, my body beginning to shake with sobs. I buried my face in his chest. "Please don't go...I love you...Please don't go..."

"I love you too," he murmured. "I'll be back, I promise."

"James - "

He propped his fingers under my chin, lifting my face up. He kissed me gently, before pulling back. "Griffin won't do anything to us. I work for him. I'm his money-machine. He won't hurt me."

"But - "

"He _won't_," James said firmly. He gently pulled away from me, and Carlos did the same thing with Stephanie.

Both boys headed for the door, leaving us girls hiccuping and sobbing behind.

I felt beyond helpless as I watched James and Carlos go through the door. Stephanie stumbled over to me and wrapped her arm around me.

There was absolute silence as the door closed behind James and Carlos.

After several seconds, Kendall broke the silence. "I just have one question. What the fuck just happened?"

I turned to Kendall, wiping at my eyes. "Well, big brother, it's a long story..."

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

My heart was breaking as I walked down the hall with Carlos. Neither of us said anything. I had never seen either Katie, or Stephanie, so scared. Katie wasn't the type of girl who would cling to someone and beg them to stay. It wasn't her style. _**I have a really bad feeling about this**_...That's what she had said to me. And Katie's instincts were 99.99999% accurate.

My mind suddenly flashed to her potential pregnancy. I felt as if my stomach had just been stuffed with ice. What if she was pregnant, and something happened to me, and I never found out that she was pregnant? That I never got to see my kid...our kid...

"You scared?" Carlos asked me.

"A little..."

"Griffin won't hurt us...right?"

"He raped Stephanie..."

"But - but - maybe he's changed..."

"I doubt it."

Carlos nodded. "So...you and Katie, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"I don't - I don't know what to say - I mean, she's like my little sister...but congratulations, I guess?"

I smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Are you two happy? I mean, you know, as happy as you can be in this situation?"

My smile widened. "Yeah. Yeah, we are. I'm in love with her...and she loves me. And she might be pregnant."

Carlos's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me! You two didn't plan that, did you?"

"No...but we forgot to use birth control..."

Carlos's eyes widened. "That's - that's not good..."

"I know."

"And in this situation - I'm sorry, I'm not trying to preach - "

"No, I know. You're right."

"But she only _**might** _be?"

"Yeah, well, I mean, no birth control...I guess it just depends..."

Carlos paused. We had reached the lobby by now. As he glanced around, as if looking for a sign of Griffin, he asked me, "Do you want her to be pregnant?"

I froze. I hadn't really considered it. "Is it - is it bad if I say _**yes**_?"

"I think it'd be worse if you said _**no**_," Carlos said with a laugh. "So, if she's pregnant, you'll keep the baby?"

"As long as she wants to keep it."

"And if she isn't pregnant?"

"Then she isn't pregnant."

"Okaaay..."

"I'll be thrilled if she's pregnant, but if she isn't, then I'll be okay with that too, because at least, if the baby ever decides they want to know how they were conceived - although, really, who does? - then we won't have to tell them that they were conceived on a ship that we were being held hostage on."

Carlos chuckled. "There probably isn't much danger of _**that** _conversation ever cropping up. But at least you'll never have to worry about that."

"Right."

I looked at Carlos. "They're scared for us. Katie and Stephanie, I mean. They're scared that something's going to go wrong."

"What's gone _**right**_?" he grumbled.

"The girls are just really scared..."

"It's probably just because of the news about Griffin."

"Carlos, you can't honestly tell me that you don't think he's dangerous. I mean, he raped your girlfriend! Who knows what else he's capable of?"

"I know," he said quietly. "But we have to try to get the password out of him."

"I know..."

"Where is he anyway?" Carlos demanded, looking around fiercely.

"I wonder..."

"What?"

"Where Logan was knocked out...Oh yeah, you weren't with us. Come on." I led him to the door. I opened it and flicked on the light, and held the door open with the hostess's guest book, just like I had done when Katie and I had come down here. We carefully made our way down the steps, into the first space, and then into the speakeasy.

I was right: Griffin was there. He was kneeling on the floor, stuffing dark-colored bottles of alcohol into crates. That was a new one. Since when was importing eighty year old alcohol illegal?

Griffin looked up at the sound of our footsteps. He didn't stop what he was doing. Instead, he just pulled a gun out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket. Carlos and I both froze. Shit.

"Are you The Replacement?" I asked Griffin.

He laughed coldly. "No."

"But you're working for him?"

"Very nice, James."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "We all know you raped Stephanie...But...I mean...how? Why?"

"The Replacement cut me a deal that he didn't think he'd be able to cut with the rest of you. He told me if I helped him smuggle certain **_items_ **out of the country, and was willing to give up your lives, he would spare mine."

"Oh, sweet. So you get to be a murderer, but you get to live to tell about it."

Griffin shrugged. "Sorry, James, Carlos, but I value my life above all of yours put together."

"What about your wife? What about Mercedes?" Carlos demanded. "How will you be able to face them again, knowing that you sold out the people who used to work for you?"

Griffin shrugged again. "I'm not planning on going home. I don't plan on ever seeing my wife or daughter again."

"That's cold," I told him, and my mind flashed back to the idea that _**I** _might have a daughter in nine months...But at this point, I was only 5% positive I would be alive for that.

"You do what you need to do. It doesn't have to be nice and fair."

"I think you're missing a vital part of your body - your _**heart**,_" Carlos said furiously. "How can you just abandon Annabelle and Mercedes like that? They both love you!"

Griffin shook his head. "I don't really care. I'm leaving them, and I'll have the freedom I want."

I began backing towards the door. Yeah, we weren't going to be getting any passwords out of him anytime soon, and it wasn't really worth trying.

Griffin looked up at me. "What're you doing?"

Carlos began backing up to. "Going to go get lunch. We're both starving. Right, James?"

"Yep! That's right!"

"Stay there!" Griffin got to his feet, aiming his gun at us.

"We'd rather not..." I told him, eyeing the gun.

"This gun's loaded!"

"Yeah...do you know how to use it?"

Griffin released the safety on it.

Carlos and I immediately turned and dashed out of there. A bullet hit the wall next to me. Another one missed Carlos by about a centimeter.

My ex-boss was trying to kill us.

* * *

><p><strong>Camille's POV<strong>

Katie and Stephanie had calmed down a little bit, long enough for Katie to explain to Kendall what was going on between her and James. Kendall was not happy, to say the least, but Katie had convinced him to stay calm so that we could figure out how to get into Griffin's suitcase.

We were still going over password suggestions when Katie got a text. She opened it up and her face went pale. "It's from James: 'DO NOT LET GRIFFIN IN NO MATTER WHAT! We're on our way'."

"Does that mean that Griffin is The Replacement?" I asked out loud.

"I don't know," Katie said, "but it sounds like he really is dangerous."

"At least they're okay," Stephanie put in. "I mean, at the moment..."

We all nodded in agreement.

A few moments later, there was loud pounding on the door, and James and Carlos were shouting. Kendall opened the door and they fell in.

"Barricade the door!" James yelled. "He's got a fucking gun! He was shooting at us!"

At once, we all went to work, pushing furniture up against the door, hopefully effectively blockading Griffin from getting inside.

"That's the best we can probably do," Kendall said, not sounding very happy. "But I don't think he'll be able to get in."

"That's a start, at least," Jo agreed.

"Is he The Replacement?" Logan asked James and Carlos.

"No," Carlos breathed out, "but he's working with The Replacement. He cut a deal with him. Something about smuggling items out of the country and killing us."

"Oh, wonderful..." Jenn breathed out.

"That's not going to help us get off the ship alive," Katie put in.

"I know..." James walked over to Katie and hugged her tightly. He rested his hand on her stomach, and she smiled at him a little questioningly. Actually, we were _**all** _looking at him a little questioningly...

He just smiled back at her and kissed her.

In the meantime, Carlos was holding Stephanie tightly and murmuring to her. She smiled and kissed him quickly.

James suddenly looked up. "Try 5-2-12."

"Why?" Logan asked, brow furrowed.

"I can't believe it didn't even occur to me...That's the date the band broke up! It wasn't reported for two weeks...but that was the date we all left the band. And Griffin was behind it."

Logan began punching the numbers into the keypad. A moment later, the lock came off, and he opened the suitcase.

His face went pale. He lifted out a timer, like the kind you might see on TV shows...A bomb timer.

We all stared at each other in horror. There was a bomb on this ship, and if the numbers on the timer were correct, we had even less time than what we had thought. We had exactly 36 hours.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Well, time's ticking away...I was originally planning something a little different for this chapter, but I really like how this chapter turned out :)<em>**

**_So...let me know what you guys think of the chapter! Did you see the whole mess with Griffin coming? How about the bomb? So, click on the very lonely review button and let me know if you liked it or not :) Oh, and I also just got a twitter - I haven't even tweeted yet - but my twitter is ScienceFantasy1 (really original, I know). I'm planning on using it strictly for fanfiction, so that you guys can keep up with my stories and what's going on with them._**


	15. Chapter 15 Voodoo Dolls

**_I can't apologize enough for the super, super late update! But I'm so, so sorry! I just got so blocked with this chapter! And it's still not as long as the other chapters are, but I hope you guys will forgive me for that. Once again, I'm so sorry!_  
><strong>

**_Disclaimer: Let me make it very simple: No. I do not own Big Time Rush. But thank you for asking._**

**_A: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it! I hope after the wait you still feel the same way. I'm not sure. Definitely a few more, for sure. Probably somewhere between four to eight chapters, but I'm not positive. Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it :)_**

**_misslittlemaslow/LovaticRusherMasloverTarver/Guest: Sure, I can do that :) It's going to be awhile before I get around to writing or posting the story, but I'll definitely keep that in mind! And I totally get that, so yeah, I'll definitely put you as his GF in a story. Yep, I know who Katelyn Tarver is :) She's an amazing singer. Okay, so, other fanfics that I wrote...Wow, there's a lot haha. I wrote "Hot Water", "Slip of the Tongue", "Movie Talk", "The School Project", "Christmas Magic", "The Double-Date", "Cougars, Bears, and Lions, Oh My!", and "Hey Katie, Wanna Hear a Secret". I did a few Harry Potter fics, but only one of them's finished: "Quidditch Love", "Trials and Tribulations of a Wizarding War", and "My Brother's Girlfriend". Yep, you can throw a bomb in the water. Well, there's worse things to be obsessed with ;) Thank you so much! I'm so happy you're enjoying it that much! And thank you for reviewing! It means so much to me! :)_**

**_lalaland: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! Yep, I'm sure you guys will be seeing more protective Kendall ;) Thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it :)_**

**_fann: Thank you very much! And thank you for reviewing! I appreciate it so much :)_**

**_BTRFan8123: Really? Thank you so much! You're so incredibly sweet! Yep, I'm going to continue ;) Thank you for reviewing! It means so much to me!_**

**_THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who is following this story, or has reviewed it, or who has read it, and who have had to wait for updates! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I love you guys! You're always so sweet to me, and so patient. So thank you :)_**

**_Warnings: Language, mild innuendos, and creepiness._**

**_Enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: Voodoo Dolls<strong>

**James's POV**

**(Flashback)**

**July 4th, 2011**

_**"Katie, you're crazy!" I called to her as we ran down the beach.**_

_**She spun around, laughing, her hair whipping around her. "So have me locked up for wanting to swim in the ocean."**_

_**I licked my lips. My mind was already going crazy in the summer heat, and I didn't need one more thing to add to the insanity. The idea of Katie half-naked, swimming in the ocean was enough to make my head spin. In the distance, fireworks and firecrackers exploded, although they barely made an impression in the bright blue sky.**_

_**There was the smell of hamburgers, hot dogs, and ribs, mixing with the salty smell of the ocean air. And in front of me was Katie, kicking off her flip-flops, and about to pull off her tank top.**_

_**My stomach twisted in anxious anticipation, even though I knew nothing would happen. She saw me strictly as a big brother, and as far as she was concerned, my feelings towards her went nothing farther than that of a baby sister. But what she didn't know was that I was falling in love with her, and there was nothing about it that I could do.**_

_**My entire body froze, and then grew hot, as Katie pulled her tank top off.**_

_**"We're in public!" I called to her, averting my eyes.**_

_**"So?"**_

_**"You can get arrested for indecent exposure!"**_

_**"Dude! I'm wearing a bikini!"**_

_**I turned my head back to look at her. Oh. She was. Well, that was embarrassing.**_

_**"Did you really think I would strip on a public beach?" Katie asked me.**_

_**More like hoped..."No, of course not. Sorry, it's just really hot out here and my brain isn't functioning."**_

_**She nodded. "Oh, okay."**_

_**I smiled at her weakly, but with the way she narrowed her eyes, I could tell that she wasn't completely buying it.**_

_**I couldn't say I blamed her.**_

* * *

><p><strong>James's POV<strong>

**12:01 AM**

I was torn out of the memory by the sounds of our phones either vibrating or beeping. We all pulled our phones out, eyes wide as we opened the new text: _**Well, that's quite a problem...But now you know the secret: in 36 hours, the ship will explode, with all of you on it. Just a normal accident. There was a problem with the engine. And what a **__**shame**__** that so many beautiful, famous people were on board. But, oh well, just like with the Titanic, life goes on. And that's what all the magazines, newspapers, and talk shows will report, because that's all they will ever be able to guess about the fate of the DLS-S Cruise Ship. And finally...finally...after five years of plotting my revenge, you will all feel the wrath of The Replacement and The Serpent. - The Replacement.**_

"The Serpent?" Gustavo said with a frown. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Maybe you're thinking of _**Harry Potter**_?" I suggested.

"No...that's not it..."

"Well, while you think about that, we have Griffin with a gun, and we have a bomb hidden somewhere on this ship," I reminded them. "And we have 35 hours and fifty-eight minutes to find the bomb."

"Maybe there's life rafts somewhere on this ship," Katie suggested. "I mean, you know, in case we can't find the bomb..."

"But we have no idea where we are," Logan pointed out. "We could be at the edge of the world and wouldn't know it."

"I'd say it's a safe bet that we're in the middle of the Pacific," Kendall spoke up. "But without any tracking devices, I can't back it up..."

"Break into the control room," I said without even realizing that the thought had crossed my mind.

Kendall's eyebrows knitted slightly. "Break into the control room..."

"Yeah. We could check our positioning. And...figure out who or what is steering the ship. I mean, the ship's probably on autopilot, but if we could switch it off and somehow steer the ship in the direction of land..."

Katie beamed at me proudly. "That's a fantastic idea!"

I felt my face break out into a wide smile. At that moment, there was almost nothing I wouldn't give just to keep on seeing Katie smile at me like that, adoringly and lovingly.

"So, maybe we should split into groups?" Logan spoke up. "Some of us can look for the bomb, and then the others can break into the control room?"

I nodded. "That makes sense. Okay, who wants to break into the control room?"

"I'll do it," Gustavo spoke up.

"Me too," Kelly agreed.

"I'll do it," Stephanie volunteered.

"And me," Carlos said decidedly.

"I'll do it too," Jenn added.

The rest of us nodded at each other. That left six of us to look for the bomb.

"I guess we should split up now," Logan said nervously. "I - I wish we had something to defend ourselves with, in case we run into The Replacement or Griffin."

"I guess we just run like hell if we see either of them," I put in. "That's kind of the only thing we can do right now..."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Ummm...where _**is**_ the control room?" Kelly asked.

"On the ship somewhere?" Carlos replied, looking just as confused as she did.

"Well, it's not like we got complementary maps," Logan pointed out. "We only know where the most basic places are, and I'm sure there's a reason for it - so that we can't track down The Replacement."

"Obviously," I said dryly. "But until then, we're just going to be stumbling around in the dark."

"We'll just have to wing it," Jo sighed.

The others nodded grimly.

"Ready to head out?" Kendall asked the room at large.

Gulping, we all nodded again. We de-barricaded the door, unlocked it, and filed out.

The hunt had begun.

* * *

><p><strong>Carlos's POV<strong>

**12:30 AM**

We split up once we reached the lobby. The bomb-searching team headed downstairs, and the rest of us decided to stay on the ground - sea? - level floor to begin our search, because that was where the captain's cabin had been located, and surely the captain would want to be near the control room.

"Let's head in that direction," Stephanie said to me, nodding towards the captain's cabin.

"Okay. Let's go."

Stephanie, Gustavo, Jenn, Kelly, and I began heading in the direction of the cabin. We reached it within a couple of minutes.

"Maybe there's a map on the ship or something," Gustavo suggested. "I'll go in and check."

"I'll go with you," I volunteered.

"We'll continue looking around," Kelly said to us, and Gustavo and I opened up the door to the Captain's Cabin. We stepped inside a little bit hesitantly. I don't know if it was just me, but it seemed like every time we were in here, we found a dead body, or a dead body part.

I heard the others set off down the hall, and I walked over to the desk, hesitantly opening it. With our luck, there would be a foot or something in there.

Except for some papers, the drawer was empty. Gustavo and I both breathed out sighs of relief. No dead body parts in the desk drawer today.

"Check through the papers," Gustavo told me. "I'm going to look around for something else. He's got a computer– maybe we can find something on it."

"Okay."

I began to search through the papers, examining each one to see if there was a map on them. In the meantime, Gustavo booted up the captain's computer.

"There's nothing in this drawer," I announced to him.

"Check the next drawer."

I opened up the one below the one I had been going through, and let out a strangled gasp. In the drawer lay eleven Voodoo dolls, all likenesses of each one of us, save for Griffin. Mine had a black helmet, Kendall's had a hockey stick, Logan's had a text book and was wearing one of those doctor-coat-things, and James' was carrying a comb and mirror. Gustavo's had his infamous bug-eyed glasses, Stephanie's was holding a movie camera, and Jenn's wore a t-shirt that said, _Mother of the Popstar_. There were pins in each of the dolls.

"You need to see this," I told Gustavo, my voice shaking. "The Replacement has been in here."

Gustavo walked over, and looked into the drawer. His eyes widened, and his face seemed to drain of all color.

"They're not – they're not real Voodoo dolls, though…right?" I asked him anxiously. "I mean, the real ones, like the ones those witch doctors make…Those can actually work…right? These haven't…I don't think…"

"The Voodoo dolls are for healing and protection purposes," Gustavo said to me, his voice shaking. "They're not actually for – for bad. It's a focusing point, I think. These are – I'm pretty sure they're just here to scare us."

"But – but – how did he know we were even going to be here?" I asked, my voice practically a hoarse whisper.

"That's – that's a really good question…"

"The Replacement, The Serpent, and Griffin…They're all watching us. They know our every move."

"They do," he agreed, beady eyes casting around the room nervously.

I checked the next desk drawer, but didn't find anything. All that was left was the bottom right drawer. I slowly opened it. There was a single key lying against the wooden slat. I hesitantly reached inside, and picked the key up.

"What is that?" Gustavo asked me from where he had sat himself down at the computer.

"A key," I told him, frowning in confusion. "It was the only thing in the last drawer. Why would he have a random key in a drawer? I mean, does it open something? A vault? A Ferrari? A hidden underwater temple? Oooh! Maybe a tomb! We could be like the Tomb Raider!"

Gustavo blinked. "If he's kept it on the ship, it probably unlocks a vault or something that's on the ship."

"Yeah, but where?"

"That's the key question – no pun intended."

I grinned. "So, anything on the computer?"

"I'm checking, I'm checking…This damn thing is so slow…"

I frowned. "That's weird."

"I know. And it's a newer one too. Like, maybe six months old?"

"So, why would it be so slow?"

"That's a very good question…"

Gustavo got into one of the captain's documents. "This is the contract he signed, to let The Replacement use the ship. It's signed by Arthur Griffin."

"Okay."

"It says that it was just for a luxury cruise for some of his friends."

"Does it say where we were headed?"

Gustavo's eyes scanned down the screen. "As a matter of fact, it does. We were headed down towards his island, about forty miles from Hawaii's island Kauai. It shows the route we were taking. Looks like we're going around South America."

"I wonder where we are right now…"

"No idea. Sadly, the days and our progress wasn't mapped out on this."

"Damn."

"I know."

Gustavo continued to go through Captain Montgomery's files, as I examined the key. It was small, reminding me of a key to a lock on a diary. I had seen one a few years ago, when Katie was going through a diary phase. But it looked much more complex than a key to a diary. It looked like it could open a small door.

Gustavo snapped me out of my thoughts: "There's a weird file on his computer, and it takes up a lot of room. It was mentioned briefly in the contract – that he had to download it."

I frowned. "Why would he have to download a file?"

"That's what I'm wondering."

"What's it called?"

"SPYxSoftware."

"Like…spy software?"

"Maybe…Actually, quite possibly! I've heard of electronic devices slowing down when there's some sort of listening device downloaded to them. That might be what's happened to his computer!"

"Click on it! Let's find out!"

He double clicked on it, and it popped up. He began to explore it, examining it.

"There's nothing to suggest that that's what it is, but I bet if we could dissect the program, we'd find out that it's actually a camera or a listening device."

I nodded. "That makes sense."

He nodded back. "We better go let the others know what we've found. They'll be needing this information."

"Okay." He got to his feet, just as there was a loud slamming. We turned our heads, and saw that the door, which we had left open, had just banged shut.

I frowned. "A draft?"

"None of the windows are open, and we're pretty deep into the ship…"

I walked over to it, and tried the door handle. It refused to turn.

"Um…Gustavo?"

"Don't say it."

"Um…We're kinda locked in…"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY IT!"

* * *

><p><strong>Stephanie's POV<strong>

"It's nowhere here," Jenn finally said. We had been walking through the ground floor of the ship for the past half hour, and nothing had turned up. _Nothing_.

"It must be on a higher floor," Kelly said wearily, looking tired. Even though she was still fairly young, she looked at least ten years older. All thanks to The Replacement, and the DLS-S Cruise.

"We better head back to Carlos and Gustavo," I announced. "They must be getting worried about us."

"No doubt," Kelly agreed, and we made our way back to the Captain's Cabin. The door was closed, and Carlos' and Gustavo's panicked voices echoed out through the wood.

Jenn knocked on the door. "Are you guys okay in there?"

"No!" Carlos cried. "He locked us in! The Replacement locked us in!"

I inhaled sharply. "But – but – most doors unlock from the inside!"

"We tried," Gustavo told me. "I think he must have jammed the lock with something. We can't unlock it, and we can't open it. We've been trying, but nothing's working."

"Plus, The Replacement left us Voodoo dolls of ourselves!" Carlos' voice squeaked in fear.

"Voodoo dolls?" Kelly repeated, her eyes widening.

"Yeah! With pins in them and everything! And they look almost exactly like us! Mine even has a helmet!"

I bit my lip. And the award for most creepiest goes to…

There was the sound of someone rummaging around in the room, and then Gustavo swore loudly. "This is real hair! He sewed real hair onto the Voodoo dolls!"

I felt bile rise in my mouth. "Do you think – do you think it's _our_ hair?"

I heard Gustavo gag slightly, and a moment later he answered, "Feels like it…It's all different textures. Mine doesn't even really have any. And Carlos' hair and his doll's hair matches perfectly."

Kelly clapped her hand over her mouth, her face beginning to turn green. I felt my own stomach swirling with nausea.

"That's sick," I stated. "That's fucking sick. The Replacement is sick and twisted."

"We already knew that," Jenn said in what would have been a _duh, Captain Obvious_ voice if she didn't sound as disgusted as I felt.

"Go and find the control room," Gustavo urged us. "Try to get us out of here later. We'll keep looking around. There's some sort of weird software on the captain's computer that I'm pretty sure is used for spying. I'll see what I can come up with. Maybe I can turn it around on The Replacement, The Serpent – whoever the hell that is – , and Griffin."

"Okay," Kelly agreed. "Be careful."

"We will. You too."

"For sure."

We hurried away from the door.

"Where to now?" Kelly asked, looking hopeless. I couldn't say I blamed her. We had no idea where the control room was, and we had just lost two members of our team. We were not in a good situation, not in the least.

I bit my lip, trying to think. If I was a ship designer, where would I put the control room…? Let's see…I wouldn't want to be surrounded by walls. I'd want to be somewhere with windows…And I'd want to be able to see the ocean.

I snapped my fingers. "The top level! That's where the control room is! Come on!" I grabbed Kelly's and Jenn's hands, and dragged them up the stairs. We reached the top floor of the ship within a couple of minutes. The top floor consisted of a hall, and a single room. The door was closed to the room, but I knew immediately what was inside.

I walked right across the hall, and tried the door. It opened at once.

Jenn and Kelly followed me into the room, a little hesitantly, and I felt my own stomach churning. I couldn't figure out why, though. No one was in here. It was completely empty, except for us. We hadn't passed anyone on the stairs, and there was no place for anyone to hide.

The walls were all windows, except for the longest one. That one consisted of a virtual map. A green line went from California, down to South America. I blinked, and realized that it was our progress.

I walked over to it to examine it, but just as I came within a foot of it, a voice echoed throughout the room: "_**Stephanie King! Did you really think you would be safe from me in here? This may have been Captain Montgomery's little hideaway, but it is my mask to wear now. And I will always wear my mask, Stephanie. The same way you all hide behind your secrets and lies. But, after all, secrets and lies make us human, don't they? Without them, what are we, but perfect beings? Your secrets and lies are used to cover up your mistakes. Isn't that the point of every horror movie**_?"

"What do you want?" I demanded of The Replacement.

"_**Isn't it obvious, my dear? I want to watch you all burn. I want to watch the people who once ruled the crowd that I could never belong to, burn, their remains turning to ashes. You have thirty-four hours to think on that, Stephanie. Thirty-four hours to contemplate my words, and contemplate your own life. And remember – your last hours are not going to be your best. They will be your worst. I will make sure of it**_!"

He fell silent, and all I could do was look at Jenn and Kelly. They both looked as stunned and scared as I did.

"_Your last hours are not going to be your best. They will be your worst_. What the hell does that mean?" I cried.

At that moment, there was a sudden shaking movement, and my eyes widened. It felt like an earthquake was going on. The only problem was, we were on water.

There was no way…

…But there it was, on the screen, a squiggly mass rising towards us.

We were about to be hit by a tidal wave.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Once again, I'm sorry that was so short :( But I hope you guys liked it. And thank you again for waiting so long. You're all awesome!<strong>_

_**So...Voodoo dolls and a tidal wave...Wow...The Replacement's really stepping up his game.**_

_**Let me know what you think about this chapter. The review button and I both depend on your reviews ;)**_


	16. Chapter 16: Down the Rabbit Hole

**Chapter 16: Down the Rabbit Hole**

**Jo's POV: Three Years Earlier, New Zealand**

"_**Say it," I said to Logan over the phone. "Just fucking say it. We all know he's sick, we have the information to prove it."**_

"_**I know." He sounded exhausted. "I know. And Kendall's still refusing to talk to me. He really thinks we hooked up."**_

"_**This is just stupid! How can one man cause so much strife and – and – "**_

"_**Discord?"**_

"_**Yeah, I guess. Whatever." I let out a frustrated breath. "Kendall's not returning my calls or texts or tweets either. I just wish he'd listen."**_

"_**Well, he won't be listening to me anytime soon," Logan sighed. "We're…um…going our separate ways."**_

"_**Going your separate ways? What does that mean?" I demanded.**_

"_**The band's breaking up. Scratch that. We did break up. I'm at the airport right now."**_

"_**What the hell happened?!"**_

"_**Griffin 'let slip' to them that I had applied for the med school in Minneapolis. That just started a whole new fight. And then…God, Jo…The things we said to each other…I didn't know I had it in me to be so nasty. I didn't know any of us did. It was pretty awful."**_

"_**So – so – " I licked my lips slowly, trying to wrap my head around all this. It just didn't feel real or…right. Big Time Rush had just reached the top. They couldn't go crumbling down now.**_

"_**So?" he prodded me.**_

"_**So, is this just a temporary breakup? Like a hiatus? Or is it – is it - ?" I couldn't even say the word. If I said it, then that meant that it was the truth, and that meant that Griffin had won.**_

_**However, Logan said it for me: "It's permanent. We're not getting back together. I can feel it."**_

"_**Oh…" I bit my lip, feeling a lump forming in my throat. "So – so – that's it? Just like that. You're throwing away almost four years of hard work over a stupid disagreement?"**_

"_**Jo." He sounded every bit as frustrated and angry as I felt. "It's not that simple. James is the only one who wanted to be in show business. He got that, he got what he wanted. But the rest of us had dreams. Kendall was going to play for the Minnesota Wild. I wanted to become a doctor. And Carlos – well, I think he's going to stay out here with James. I don't know what he's going to do, but Kendall and I are going back to Minnesota."**_

"_**What about Katie and Jenn?" I asked. I couldn't imagine what it was like for them anymore than I could imagine what it was like for Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos.**_

"_**They flew back to Minnesota yesterday."**_

"_**Yesterday? When did you guys have the fight?" I cried.**_

_**Logan paused a little. "Two days ago…But we've been fighting up a storm lately."**_

"_**And I bet Griffin is, in some way, the instigator behind all of your arguments."**_

"_**Maybe a little…"**_

"_**Logan, you're so smart! How can you let this monster just destroy you guys? Destroy all that you've worked for?"**_

"_**The band wasn't ever supposed to last forever. Just for a few years, enough to launch James into stardom, and it did that."**_

"_**That's bullshit," I snarled. "You all love singing and dancing and music. This is something that you all wanted. And you're just letting a monster in an Armani suit pull the strings. You're puppets, that's all you are! And Griffin is the puppet master."**_

"_**Screw you!" Logan snarled right back.**_

"_**Goodbye!" I hung up and threw myself onto my bed in my hotel room in New Zealand. I couldn't believe it. Big Time Rush was over, all thanks to Griffin. He had ruined one of the best, most honest bands in the music industry. They had had so much to give and do and take, and now none of it was ever going to happen.**_

* * *

><p><strong>James' POV<strong>

**12:20 AM**

We watched as Carlos, Stephanie, Kelly, and Jenn headed off, in the direction of the Captain's office. I didn't know about the others, but my stomach was twisting and turning and churning. I had a bad feeling about this.

As if sensing my thoughts and emotions, Katie reached out and took my hand in hers. Her hand was just as small as it had been three years ago, and I was still amazed at how tiny and fragile her fingers looked, like they would break if I squeezed her hand too hard. But I knew they were just like the rest of her. Small, with the appearance of being delicate, but in reality, they were strong and tough, and could snap her enemies like twigs if need be. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. But I was glad, because I knew that meant that she had a better chance of surviving.

I pulled Katie against me and she leaned into me. Kendall narrowed his eyes, but the others all smiled a little. Jo reached out and squeezed Kendall's hand reassuringly, letting him know that everything was okay for the time being.

God, let's hope so.

We walked down to the lower level, treading carefully, in case there was a trick wire or a mine that we could set off. It'd be just our luck that we'd end up setting off a trick wire. It was so us.

"Okay. If I was a bomb, where would I be hiding out?" Kendall finally said, breaking us out of our worried thoughts.

"Somewhere where no one could find me?" Camille suggested helpfully.

"Probably in the very center of the ship," Logan put in.

"Like, in the ceiling or a wall or something?" Katie asked, brow furrowing as she chewed thoughtfully on her lip.

"Probably."

"Well, how would he get it in a ceiling or a wall?" Jo asked.

"Maybe he drilled a hole in one of them?" Kendall proposed. "Or maybe he built a wall around it? Like, maybe it was in a room, but now it's trapped in a wall?"

"Maybe…How much would the plaster slow the bomb down?" I asked Logan.

"Depends on the force of the bomb."

"Oh."

"But I'm guessing that the bomb would have plenty of power."

"Not, like, atom-bomb-power, though, right?" Camille asked nervously.

"No…I hope not…"

"We're not going to go like Hiroshima," I said firmly. "Besides, I'm pretty sure even _Griffin_ couldn't get his hands on that kind of bomb."

"Let's hope not," Logan mumbled. "Because otherwise we're screwed. With a regular bomb we could just throw out into the ocean. With an atom bomb…We'd have to be pretty far away for us to come away unaffected."

The rest of us nodded grimly.

"So, what do we do? Begin tapping on walls?" Jo wanted to know. "Try to find a hollow space?"

"Not a bad idea," Logan nodded.

So, resigned to playing Nancy Drew, we began tapping our knuckles against every inch of wall we could reach. At one point, Jo remembered the ceiling, so Katie climbed up on my shoulders and began to check the ceiling over.

Nothing.

"Maybe we could get a little more centered," I suggested. "We're kind of at one side of the ship, and like Logan pointed out, a bomb that's supposed to blow up the entire ship would probably be in the middle."

There was a general consensus, and we headed back in the direction of the stairs. As we passed by the staircase, a sprig of light highlighted what appeared to be a crack in the floor.

It looked like a normal crack, except that it was long, at least two feet in length. Not exactly your normal crack.

I dropped Katie's hand and walked over to it. At one end, I could see that it met another crack that went in another direction, making an _L_ – wait. It was all one crack – no, scratch that.

I dug my nails into the cracks and tugged up. An entire piece of floor came up. A trapdoor.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a secret door," I said as I straightened back up. "Now, who wants to go down the rabbit's hole?"

Everyone backed up.

"Your enthusiasm is overwhelming," I said sarcastically. "Seriously, don't fall all over yourselves like that, you're gonna make me think you want to go down there."

"Well, I'm not going down there without Logie," Camille whimpered, digging her nails into Logan's arm.

Logan looked slightly alarmed at Camille's proclamation. "I'm not going down there, period!" he yelped.

"Babies," Katie clucked. "I'll go down there with you," she said to me.

"Thank you."

"We will too," Jo said determinedly, tugging a reluctant-looking Kendall forward.

"I'm not going down there without flashlights," Logan spoke up. "It looks dark down there. And there might be spiders or alligators or stuff down there."

I stared at him. "Are you sure you're purpose is to be a doctor? Seriously, you'd make a good cheesy horror novelist."

He scowled at me. "Do _you_ want to go down there without any light?"

"Not particularly."

"Case and point."

"Go get flashlights," Kendall told Logan. "We're going down the rabbit's hole."

Logan whimpered in fear, but he and Camille scurried away. They returned ten minutes later, armed with flashlights that I was guessing he had packed, along with extra batteries. They handed them out to each of us, and I shone my flashlight down into the entrance.

A rope ladder swung from hooks that seemed to have been hammered into the underside of the floor, an inch or so back from where the trapdoor would fall.

"I'll go down first," I volunteered. I stuck my flashlight between my teeth, and carefully lowered myself down into the hole. My foot landed on one of the rungs of the rope ladder, and I gripped the entrance tightly.

"Well? Can it support you?" Logan called to me.

"Yeah," I replied. "It seems pretty stable. I'm going down." I began to make my way down the ladder. The rungs were made of smoothed, polished wood with no splinters whatsoever, like a table. I was about halfway down the ladder when I realized that there was also no dust or rot on the rungs either, and from what I could see of the ropes, they were still pretty strong.

I bit my lip, realizing that this meant that someone had traipsed up and down this ladder recently…And now I was wondering if plunging into a mysterious hole was really a good idea. For all I knew, I could be heading straight for The Replacement's lair.

I'd had miserable luck lately.

With a jolt, my foot touched what felt like cement, and I cautiously lowered my other foot down. I had reached the ground.

I took the flashlight out of my mouth and shone it around. I could see a table with a computer perched on it, bookshelves, and a closet. I spotted a light switch on the nearest wall, and I hurried over to it, flicking it on. Fluorescent lights illuminated the room, and I could see book and papers on the desk.

"Come on down!" I called up to my friends.

I heard the rope ladder creak and it swung a bit as Kendall began climbing down. He joined me quickly.

"It's clear!" he called up to the others, before looking around, surveying the room. "Whoa. What is this place?"

"Beats the hell out of me."

"It looks kind of like an office."

I nodded. "The Replacement's office?"

"I bet that's exactly what it is. I mean, it's pretty well hidden too."

"Holy guacamole!" Camille cried as she landed on the ground beside us. "The Replacement's evil lair!"

"That's what it looks like," Kendall agreed. "Damn…can you imagine what must be on that computer alone?"

There was a long pause, and then we all raced over to it. Kendall hit the power button, booting it up. In the meantime, Katie had joined us.

"Jackpot!" she cried. "Yeah, baby, we've struck gold!"

Camille turned to me. "Is she like this in bed?"

Kendall clapped his hands over his ears. "LA LA LA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"Childish. We all know they're sleeping together."

"SHUT UP, CAMILLE!" Kendall hollered, hands still over his ears.

Katie walked over to me, watching the computer screen. "Think we can find something on it?"

"Let's hope so."

Jo joined us. "Come on down, Logie!"

I heard him grumbling about spiders, but a minute later he dismounted from the ladder. "Okay. Wow. This place…"

"We know," I said.

"Can you imagine the information we can get on The Replacement? He might even have recorded where he hid the bomb!"

The computer looked to be completely warmed up by now, so Logan sat down in the chair and began to click on stuff. However, the second he moved the mouse, the screen changed, showing that it was locked and needed a password.

We definitely should have seen that one coming.

"Okay, if I was The Replacement, what would my password be?" Camille said out loud.

"_IAmEvil_?" Jo suggested.

"Nah," Katie disagreed, "too obvious. It'd be something a little more subtle."

"Maybe his name?" I suggested.

"You mean the name he gave himself, or his real one?" Logan asked me.

"I don't know…Both?"

"That's all well and good, but what's his real name?"

"That's the question…"

"Well, I'm sure it'd have something to do with this cruise," Jo said.

Logan began to type in anything he could think of. But no matter how many variations he tried of _IAmPsycho_, nothing flew.

In the meantime, I mulled over what Jo had said about the password having something to do with the cruise. It felt like the answer was right there in front of me, so tantalizingly close that I could almost touch it.

The DLS-S Cruise…What could the password have to do with it…?

"Guys?" I spoke up. "What does DLS stand for?"

Everyone shrugged.

"I mean, we've never given it much thought…But…Our secrets have been coming out left and right on this cruise. Everything. All of our dirty laundry. All of our dirty little secrets. That's it! That's what DLS stands for! _Dirty Little Secret_! Logan, try it!"

He typed it in, and a moment later, we were back at the home screen.

"Success!" he chimed, and began to search through the computer.

We all stood back and watched, anxious but excited about what we could end up finding.

It took a little while, but eventually Logan managed to hack his way into a hidden file. His eyes widened as he scanned over it. I bent down to look at it and I gasped.

It was a profile of each and every one of us. The information was beautifully outlined and detailed. I probably didn't know as much about myself as The Replacement knew about me, and that was a scary thought.

"The information dates back to when we were seventeen," Logan murmured, looking through his profile. "At least, the main profile does. The _history_ section goes up until we were sixteen. So, The Replacement must have targeted us five years ago. That's when he began gathering information on us."

"Five years ago?" Camille cried. "That's so creepy! I can't believe we never knew."

"I wonder if he was already in cahoots with Griffin," I said grimly. "I bet he was. Some of this is information that he would have never been able to find out unless he had a source very close to us."

"Unless he had cameras set up in the apartment," Katie pointed out. "He has the exact date that we…got together." She blushed a little.

"And it has the date of our last phone call," Jo added to Logan. "Look, dated two days after you guys split up."

He nodded. "Kind of makes me wonder if he was listening in on us."

"Most likely."

Logan got out of the profiles and got into a folder that was laden with pictures and videos. He clicked on a video and we all gaped at the screen. It was just Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and me walking across the Palmwoods parking lot, laughing and talking.

We got into the limo that Griffin had sent for us and the camera suddenly switched to the interior of the limo.

"Well, I guess he'd need to know everything about our lives," I commented. "Otherwise he wouldn't be able to do any of this."

Logan stopped the video and clicked on another one.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Kendall yelped.

Katie and I were in my bed back at the Palmwoods. I won't mention exactly what was going on, but you can guess the basic details.

Once Logan got over the shock of seeing Katie and me naked together, he closed out the video. "I'll try to find something that'll tell us where the bomb is," he said after a few seconds of stunned silence. He went back to searching through the hard drive of the computer.

We waited quietly for him to go through it. It was a good ten minutes later when he finally said, "Aha! I found a construction contract. An extra wall was built in the lobby, and a safe was installed in it."

"A safe was installed in a wall?" I repeated. "Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose a little bit?"

"The Replacement wasn't taking any chances," Logan said with grim satisfaction. "Now we just have to figure out how to demolish the wall."

"He built a wall around the safe…" Katie bit her lip. "He's really into secrecy, isn't he?"

"That's right, Miss Knight, I am."

We all looked up abruptly. Standing in front of us was a tall man. He was thin and dressed all in black, complete with a black mask covering his face. Hello, phantom of the opera.

Oh, and did I mention the gun he was holding?

A second man joined us, but he wasn't wearing a mask, and I recognized him at once: The man who had tried to turn us all into reality TV show stars, and then had secretly recorded us after Griffin had demolished his contract, only to get caught and stopped by Griffin and Kelly.

None other than Snake Timmons.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Raise your hand if you saw that coming! So, wow! A lot of stuff happened in this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! And if, you know, you have anything, anything at all, you want to say about the story, feel free to help cheer the review button up (it's lonely) and drop me a review. Neither of us would mind ;)<strong>_


	17. Chapter 17 Trapped and Desperate

**_Wow, I'm actually updating this in less than a month! Go me!_  
><strong>

**_Disclaimer: Well. About owning Big Time Rush...I really don't, not at all, never have, and never will. Sorry._**

**_Guest: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it! :)_**

**_seethrutheglass: Well, you were right about it being Snake, so nice one!_**

**_THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! You guys are amazing, and I love how enthusiastic and support and in love with this story you've been so far!_**

**_Warnings: Language, action, violence, and mentions of non-con voyeurism._**

**_Oh, you may notice that I changed one of the genres - it used to be romance/mystery, and now it's romance/suspense. The story was a lot darker than I originally thought it would be, and it just made sense to change the genre._**

**_Enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: Trapped and Desperate<strong>

**Katie's POV: 3 1/2 Years Earlier, the Palmwoods**

_**I sighed from where I was sitting on the orange couch in 2J. James was doing his usual morning routine, i.e. walking around the apartment wearing sweat pants and nothing else. Not that I minded. He could go shirtless twenty-four/seven and I wouldn't complain. His body was amazing. I just wished that I could touch it…**_

_**He looked over at me from where he was shoveling cereal into his mouth. "You okay?" he wanted to know. "You look a little depressed."**_

_**I pulled my feet up under me. "No, I'm fine. I just had a weird dream last night."**_

"_**Like a nightmare?"**_

_**I shook my head. Not in the least.**_

"_**So…what was it? Did it just not make sense?" he pushed.**_

"_**It – it made sense…"**_

_**It made a lot of sense…Sex dreams generally do…especially when they involve a really hot guy like, say, James Diamond.**_

"_**Well, if you want to talk about it, we can," he said to me as he plopped down on the couch, mere inches from me. He took another bite of his cereal.**_

_**I found myself staring at his fingers, watching how he controlled the spoon, held the bowl, how his fingers gently curled around the base and side of the dish, his thumb occasionally sliding up and down the plastic. It was a simple, innocent movement, but if his thumb moved like that along something else…it would be obscene.**_

_**I swallowed forcefully. I knew I didn't have a chance with him. He was three years older than me, a grown man at nineteen. I was only sixteen. He wouldn't want to be with me.**_

_**But what if he did?**_

_**As I watched him, I noticed the way his eyes seemed to rest on my bare legs, and raise until he was eyeing my chest, finally settling on my face.**_

_**It was at that moment that it occurred to me that we were both teenagers, and three years' age difference really wasn't that much. What were the chances that he was interested in me?**_

_**Biting my bottom lip, I decided to give it my best try.**_

"_**Well, the thing is, I kind of do want to talk about it," I said quietly. "But it's kind of…embarrassing."**_

"_**Should I get your mom?" he asked, sounding almost alarmed.**_

_**I shook my head. "I don't know what she can tell me that books haven't already."**_

_**His hazel eyes, already large, seemed to widen even more, and he half-choked on the spoonful of cereal he had just taken. "Uh – uh huh…"**_

"_**It's just so hard to have hormones with no outlet," I explained to him. "You must know how that goes."**_

_**He looked like he was about to drop the bowl.**_

"_**I mean, at least you have masturbating. A lot of girls don't even have that."**_

_**The look of complete and utter shock was more than enough to make up for the fact that my face was probably turning a bright red.**_

_**I sighed again, stretching out, catching the way his eyes lingered on my chest as it rose.**_

"_**It's so hard to get what you need to out of it," I continued on. "It doesn't come naturally for everyone, you know."**_

"_**Seriously…um…you should talk to your mom about this…and not me…" He stumbled to his feet.**_

"_**Am I making you uncomfortable, Jamie?" I asked, trying to sound sweet and innocent. "You've always told me I could talk to you about anything."**_

"_**I – I know – it's just – masturbating? Really, Katie? Really? Why are you even bringing it up?"**_

"_**I could use some help," I said, my voice sounding small as I realized that he was about to reject me. "I don't know what I'm doing and…" I took a deep breath. "I've been having dreams about you a lot…"**_

_**For a split second, it looked like James' eyes lit up, but then a sad and confused look settled on his face. "It's just because I'm available," he mumbled. "Your mind's immediately going to me. That's all it is, Katie. Nothing more, nothing less."**_

"_**James…"**_

"_**I'm sorry, I – I need to go." He rinsed out his bowl and put it and the spoon in the dishwasher, before hurrying to the bedroom he shared with Carlos.**_

_**I covered my face with my hands, trying not to cry. I knew I hadn't had a chance with him…I'd known it…**_

_**And then that night, everything changed.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

**2:30 AM**

There was complete silence in the room. No one spoke. No one moved. We were frozen in shock and horror. A gun was pointed at us by a masked man. And standing beside him was none other than reality TV show super-producer, Snake Timmons.

Snake…

Snake…

The Replacement?

But no, that didn't make sense. His voice and The Replacement's didn't match up. It was the masked man who had spoken in the first place, not Snake Timmons. And the masked man's voice did match The Replacement's…

Snake Timmons was The Serpent.

But beyond that…further than that…we had finally come face to face with The Replacement.

I licked my lips, trying not to quake with fear. I felt James reach for my hand, slipping his fingers through mine.

"I guess you are really secretive," I finally said to The Replacement. "You'd have to be, to pull something like this off. To spy on us since the guys were seventeen. To get Arthur Griffin on your side, to hire Snake Timmons, to blackmail us."

"To beat you," he said coldly. "Ah, and James Diamond." His lips turned up into an icy smile. "The one who I would have replaced, if it wasn't for one Miss Katie Knight." He nodded at me.

"That was you?" James whispered.

"I locked you in a cage and left you dog biscuits. Remember that? Such fond memories."

"You were already crazy at thirteen," James snapped. "You were a foot shorter than me. Skinny as hell. You didn't look a thing like me."

He stepped towards James. "But I was diabolical. All I wanted was to know what it felt like to be my idol. Permanently." His voice turned mocking. "But Katie Knight wouldn't allow that. She wanted to keep you in the band, because she couldn't let you go."

"I was a part of Big Time Rush," James snarled. "I had every right to be in the band. You weren't me! You could never be me!"

The Replacement smiled again. "I know that now. I could never fit in with any of you. I'm not so young and naïve now. I've had this plan in my head for five years. And now, I'm finally going to get my revenge." He continued to move towards James, and I instinctively stepped in front of him, trying to shield him from whatever wrath The Replacement might wield on him.

I felt James' hands on my shoulders, and then with a push, I stumbled into Kendall. I looked back at James, but he didn't glance my way. He was going to meet The Replacement head on.

"What're you going to do?" he asked quietly. "Shoot me?"

"Of course not," The Replacement said coolly. "I want to watch you burn with everyone else. But I fully intend on using this opportunity to my advantage."

James blinked, and I caught a look of fear shooting across his face. He quickly disguised with a haughty expression, but I knew what I'd seen.

The Replacement slowly raised his mask as he reached James. He held the gun up, pointing it at me. "Stay still," he murmured to James. "Or else your girlfriend gets shot."

James swallowed, but nodded his understanding.

"Good. I wonder what it would be like to kiss myself…"

We all blinked. What the hell was he talking about?

But then it hit me. He had wanted to replace James. He had wanted to be James. Which meant…

Before any of us could do or say anything, The Replacement touched his lips to James'.

I felt nausea roiling in my stomach, heading towards my throat. Kendall held me tightly, his face buried in my hair. Logan had his hand over his eyes, and Camille and Jo had both turned away.

But I watched.

James' face twisted slightly, and his body was tense, telling me he was fighting the urge to push The Replacement off of him, but he didn't. I was sure that in his head, he was repeating a mantra of _Stay still, stay still, stay still_. He would let The Replacement rape him before he let him hurt me. And I couldn't let that happen.

After several more seconds, The Replacement pulled back, brushing his fingers over his lips. "I knew you'd be a good kisser."

"Put the gun down," James said shakily. "Please…"

The Replacement smirked, running his finger over James' cheek. "But where's the fun in that?"

James shuddered. "I'll do anything you want…Just please don't hurt her."

"Anything I want?" he repeated.

James nodded, his body visibly shaking.

"You're almost making it too easy," The Replacement purred.

"James..." I whimpered. "Don't…"

"It'll be okay," James said, trying to sound reassuring. "It'll all work out."

The Replacement licked his lips. "Maybe if you two do what I want, maybe I'll keep you alive, for a little while."

"What'll you do with us?" I asked him.

"Keep you two. You know, I loved watching it all go down. You two were _so hot_ together." He tilted his head back, eyes closing slightly, as if he was in a moment of passion.

"Yeah, that's just gross," Kendall spoke up. "You actually liked watching my sister and best friend have sex? Dude, you have some serious issues."

"Seriously," Camille piped up, "you need therapy. I mean, I get that voyeurism is kind of kink and all that, but to go so far as to spy on people, and then decide to keep them so that you can watch them go at it, well, you need professional help. Seriously, give a therapist a call, you'll feel better."

The Replacement stared between Kendall and Camille in shocked disbelief. "You do know I'm holding a gun, right?"

"Duh," Camille intoned. "But without that gun, you're all talk. And if you think we're going to let you use James and Katie as your sex slaves or whatever, you're even nuttier than a squirrel's cheeks in the winter."

"On second thought, maybe I'll keep you…You're sassy, I like that."

"Oh, please, we're all sassy," Jo rolled her eyes. "One of the advantages of growing up in Hollywood. Learn it. Live it. Love it. And in your case, kill it."

"Or you…" The Replacement shifted his gun to point at Jo.

"Or how about me? Goodness knows I'm pretty sassy," Kendall spoke up, striking a pose.

"And me. I'm a doctor, I gotta bring the sass too," Logan grinned.

James and I blinked at each other in confusion. What the hell was wrong with everyone?

The next thing I knew, everyone was crowding together, facing The Replacement down.

We weren't going down without a fight.

* * *

><p><strong>Carlos' POV<strong>

"There has to be something to help us get out of here," I mumbled as Gustavo and I continued to search Captain Montgomery's office. "Anything…Anything at all."

"Something to break through the door?" Gustavo suggested.

"Like a chair?" I added.

"Yes! A chair would be perfect. Something sturdy. It won't matter now if it breaks, but we need to make sure we can get through the door."

I nodded in agreement.

He grabbed the desk chair and hauled it over to the door, swinging it at the wood. There was a loud thud.

He did it again.

Another thud.

Another swing.

Crack!

The wood splintered slightly.

Gustavo and I shared an excited, hopeful look, before he smashed the chair against the door again. The wood broke apart some more.

One more swing, and the center of the door gave out completely, falling in a pile of oversized toothpicks to the ground.

Gustavo and I grinned at each other, and then he pushed himself through the hole in the door. I scampered out after him.

Once we were safely out of the office, we took off down the hall.

"Where do you think the others are?" Gustavo asked me as we skidded into the lobby.

"Beats the hell out of me! I wonder if Stephanie, Kelly, and Jenn ever found the control room…"

"Let's hope so…I'll text Kelly." He sent her a quick text. A moment later, his phone beeped, and he opened the new message. "The control room is on the upper floor of the ship. Come on!" We raced up the stairs, finally reaching a door at the very top. We busted through it to find the three women huddled around a control panel. They looked up as we came racing in, their faces pale and tight, fists clenched.

There was a moment of silence, and then Stephanie spoke: "We're about to be hit by a tidal wave."

I gasped. "W-w-what? What're you talking about?"

She led me over to the big window-screen-thingy. She pointed to a weird, uneven heap on the screen, that was moving towards us pretty quickly. "That's a tidal wave. I don't know when it's going to hit, but with the way it's coming towards us, I'd say soon."

"What do we do?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"I don't know," she said helplessly. "I wish I did, but I don't."

"We could turn the ship around, if we knew how," Kelly spoke up. "But we don't even know how far away we'd have to be for the tidal wave to miss us."

"We should still try it," I replied. "We've gotta try it, it could be our only chance. We can maybe stand up against a bomb, if we can find it, but a tidal wave? Forget it! It'll completely wipe us out! We won't survive that!"

"Are you sure it's a tidal wave?" Gustavo asked Stephanie. "Because that could be a lot of stuff. Hell, it could be another ship."

Before she could answer, the boat suddenly began to rock back and forth. It had been pretty unsteady for the past hour, but this felt like…

"An earthquake," I whispered.

"Except we're on water," Jenn pointed out.

"Oh my God…"

"This has to be some sort of trick, it just has to be," Kelly whimpered.

"We'll focus on whether or not this is a trick later," I said. "Come on, let's figure out how to steer this damn thing."

"If only the captain was still alive," Jenn sighed as we all unsteadily moved towards the steering wheel-like thing in the center of the room.

"Yeah, well, The Replacement got rid of him," I replied. "So we're kind of on our own now."

"I don't know if we can do this. What if the wind's wrong?" Gustavo spoke up.

"The wind's actually going to help us," Stephanie told him as she examined some sort of meter thing on the screen. "It's pushing us in the opposite direction. If we turn the ship around, we could move even faster _away_ from the tidal wave."

"Let's give it a try," Jenn agreed. "Anybody have a handbook for the ship?"

Gustavo grinned and pulled out a small, yet thick, book from his jacket pocket. "I'll find the section about turning the ship."

* * *

><p><strong>James' POV<strong>

The Replacement sneered at us. "Do you really think you'll all be able to take me down?"

Logan shrugged. "Who knows? But hey, there's six of us, and only two of you, although you do have a gun. So, I'd say the chances of us escaping are probably fifty/fifty."

I wasn't sure I liked those chances, but hey, they were a hell of a lot better than, say, 90/10 in Snake's and The Replacement's favor.

The Replacement stared at him. "And what're you planning on doing?"

Logan shrugged. "Hadn't thought about it."

"We'll figure something out though," I assured The Replacement.

He rolled his eyes, sneering again. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

I looked over at Logan. "Hear that, buddy? We have no idea what we're talking about."

"Oh, well, damn. I guess we'd better stay here and wait for the bomb to explode. After all, who wants to take chances?"

"Certainly not me, now that a psycho's told me I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Oh, agreed. Everyone, listen to the psycho! He knows exactly what he's talking about!" Logan waved his hands around. "After all, he knows everything there is to know! By the way," he added to The Replacement. "You're not actually holding the gun right. Here, let me show you." He walked over to The Replacement, who had a stunned look on his face again. "It's like this." Just as there was a soft click from the gun, the boat began shaking violently.

The Replacement and Snake both looked up at the ceiling.

We didn't wait for Logan to yell it – we ran for our lives.

Up the rope ladder, all of us gripping and grappling to get out of the little cellar. I heard both The Replacement and Snake cuss us out vilely, but we had taken them completely by surprise. They hadn't expected us to run so soon. Not to mention, the fact that the ship was shaking the way _The Titanic_ must have when it had run into the iceberg.

I really hoped we hadn't crashed into an iceberg…

"Split up!" Logan yelled.

We didn't pause to think. Logan and I ran in one direction, Katie and Kendall ran in another, and Jo and Camille ran in a third.

Logan and I reached the lobby and slowed down to look at the extra wall. It separated the lobby from what was now just a random room, but both rooms were decorated pretty much the same.

"That's the wall we need to demolish," Logan panted to me. "That's the wall we need to get into."

"What did you do to the gun?"

"Put the safety on. I thought it might buy us a couple of seconds. The Replacement seems easily distracted and startled, which'll help in our favor."

I nodded. "Come on, we have to go – "

Before I could completely finish my sentence, a tall, thin, white-haired man appeared, dressed impeccably in a suit and tie.

Griffin.

Like The Replacement, he held a gun. Black. Shiny. Lethal looking.

We had no chance…

Except…

"Your gun can only shoot six rounds," Logan spoke up. "You have six shots. You need to make them count."

Griffin smirked. "Oh, believe me, Logan, I will." He trained the gun at Logan's head. "Maybe I'll use all six shots on you. What do you think?"

"I think Camille's going to be really pissed if she finds out you used me as target practice."

I nodded. "She gets really dangerous. It has to do with her method acting. I wouldn't want her as an enemy."

Griffin rolled his eyes. "Psyching me out won't work, boys. I'm the master of psyching people out."

I snapped my fingers. "Darn."

Griffin took a step towards Logan, and then another step. Logan backed up, looking for a way to run, but there was none. Griffin was closing the distance between them.

I licked my lips. I had to do something.

And then…

The Replacement and Snake came dashing into the lobby. Griffin whipped around, and his finger slipped on the trigger.

There was an echoing _BANG_, and Snake went down.

At first I thought he had just tripped, but then blood splattered all over the floor.

This wasn't going to bold well for Griffin…

I was right.

The Replacement raised his gun coldly and shot straight at Griffin's chest. He tumbled to the ground, blood staining his suit jacket.

Logan and I didn't wait around to see if The Replacement was interested in playing _Pin the Tail_. We took advantage of the empty space between us and The Replacement, and made a break for it, into the next room.

We kept running, taking as many turns as we could, before we finally stopped.

"We need to figure out how to get into the wall," Logan breathed out.

"Obviously."

"If we could just find a good hammer…"

"There has to be one around here somewhere. Maybe in a supply closet?"

He nodded. "Let's go find one."

* * *

><p><em><strong>So, what'd you guys think? Were you shocked by what happened to Snake and Griffin? How about that tidal wave?<strong>_

_**A couple of people have asked me how much more of the story is left to write. In all honesty...I'd say around two more chapters, maybe three. I could be totally wrong, but that's my guess.**_

_**Anyway, it'd be greatly appreciated if you clicked on the review button! The button would be thrilled at some company, and I love hearing your thoughts on the chapter :)**_


	18. Chapter 18: Two Choices

**Chapter 18: Two Choices**

**James' POV: 3 ½ Years Earlier, the Palmwoods**

_**Katie had been avoiding me for the last few hours, ever since she had told me she'd been having dreams about me. I didn't know what to do. I was so torn…On the one hand, there was a part of me – a really huge part – that was absolutely thrilled at the possibility that she might have feelings for me. On the other hand, there was the feeling of terror and dread, knowing that if she chose to actually make a move, I would be rendered helpless. And it was illegal for me to sleep with her. I was an adult, and she was still a minor.**_

_**If we had been back in Minnesota, she would be at the age of consent, but here in California, the age of consent was eighteen, not sixteen.**_

_**I sighed deeply, wishing I knew what to do. I wanted to talk to her about what she had told me, but I didn't want to embarrass and humiliate her further, and I certainly didn't want to push her away. But if I told her I felt the same way, she might take it as a sign to act out her dreams.**_

_**And while I really wanted that, I knew it wasn't right. I was nineteen, and she was only sixteen, and I was pretty sure she was still a virgin, while I had lost my virginity back in the good ol' days of Minnesota-livin'.**_

_**But the fact remained that she was a pretty girl, and that guys seemed to at the very least notice her. It wouldn't be long before one of them asked her out, and then where would I be? In the background, watching helplessly as he got to be to her exactly what I wanted to be.**_

_**And what if she decided that this new guy, who would be sixteen or seventeen, was the one she wanted to lose her virginity to?**_

_**Needless to say, I was between a rock and a hard place, with no way out.**_

_**But what if sex wasn't involved? What if we simply dated? No sleeping together whatsoever? That'd be okay, right? That was legal. It would be enough for the both of us, I was sure.**_

_**Except…**_

_**I didn't think either Mama Knight or Kendall would be too happy with the idea of me dating Katie, no matter what we promised. The fact remained that hormones and urges could get out of control, and it would be all too easy for us to fall over the edge, bringing the other one down with them. Plus, Kendall seemed to be under the impression that I treated girls badly.**_

_**He was dead wrong. I just…didn't treat them as well as I could have…**_

_**I sighed again, repositioning myself on the couch. The guys were out with their girlfriends, per usual, and Mama Knight had to work. She had gotten a job as a night clerk or something at city hall or, well, somewhere. Somewhere with politics. Something like that.**_

"_**So, I left money for pizza," Mrs. Knight told me as she bustled around, finishing getting ready. "Have fun, and try not to burn down the apartment, okay?"**_

_**I chuckled. "I'll do my best not to."**_

"_**Good boy."**_

"_**Woof!"**_

_**She laughed, and swung her purse over her shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning. 'Night."**_

"'_**Night," I replied as she headed for the door.**_

_**She left the apartment, leaving me all alone with Katie, who was currently hiding out in her room.**_

_**I waited almost two hours for Katie to come out, but she never did. With a resigned sigh, I flipped off the TV, got to my feet, and headed to her bedroom door. I knocked on it.**_

"_**Katie? It's me. I'm going to order the pizza now, okay?"**_

"_**Whatever," was her response.**_

_**Hello, moody teenager. How nice to see you. Please go away now.**_

"_**What type do you want?"**_

"_**I don't care."**_

"_**You sure?"**_

"_**Uh huh."**_

_**I paused, and then grinned to myself. I knew exactly how to get a rise out of her. "In that case, I'm going to order Hawaiian pizza."**_

"_**No!" she cried. "I mean – "**_

_**I chuckled and opened her door. She was sitting straight up on her bed, a book lying at her side. She glared at me furiously.**_

"_**You wouldn't dare."**_

"_**Well, you said you didn't care…"**_

"_**You're such an ass," she said ferociously.**_

"_**You love my ass," I couldn't help but respond.**_

_**There was a long pause, and her face turned bright red.**_

"_**Sorry…that…um…so, Pepperoni?" I said weakly.**_

_**She wordlessly nodded.**_

"_**O-okay…Um…Yeah…" I quickly exited from her room, closing the door. I called the pizza place and order a large pepperoni pizza.**_

_**A half hour later, the pizza delivery guy showed up. I paid for the pizza, and set it down on the counter.**_

"_**Katie?" I called. "Pizza's here."**_

"_**Okay." She walked out of her room, avoiding my eyes. She grabbed a piece of pizza and plunked it on a plate, before sitting down at the counter and digging in. I joined her, neither of us saying anything as we ate.**_

_**Once we had finished and had put our plates in the dishwasher and the leftover pizza in the fridge, I cleared my throat.**_

"_**Can we – um – talk about…earlier?" I asked, a little anxiously.**_

"_**What's there to talk about? You're nineteen, really cool, really hot, the star of millions of wet dreams, and my big brother's best friend, while I'm sixteen, not so cool, not so hot, and the star of Bitters' nightmares."**_

"_**You are cool," I told her fervently. "And very pretty."**_

"_**Right. Pretty. And cute. But not someone you would want to be with."**_

"_**I never said that."**_

"_**The look on your face this morning said more than enough."**_

_**I shook my head. "Katie…you don't understand."**_

"_**Then enlighten me."**_

"_**It's just…Look. I do have feelings for you. Romantic ones. But Kendall and your mom wouldn't want me dating you, and with good reason. I'm kind of a player."**_

"_**Kind of?" she snorted.**_

"_**Well, okay, I am a player. Would you really want to date someone like that?"**_

"_**Depends," she said. "Would you be willing to date someone who's three years younger than you, inexperienced, and overly hopeful?"**_

_**I nodded. "I would be."**_

_**She turned around to face me. She tilted her head up, looking into my face, her eyes locking with mine. There was a long pause, during which she stepped towards me, trapping me against the sink. She stood on her tip-toes and wound her arms around my neck, pulling my lips down to meet hers.**_

_**That was the night I took her virginity.**_

(*)(*)(*)(*)

**James' POV**

**6:02 AM**

Logan and I crept down the hall, on the alert for The Replacement or any sudden gunfire. He let out a sharp gasp, and jumped. "Oh no – oh, wait," he gave me a sheepish look. "It was just our shadows."

I face-palmed. "Seriously?"

"What?" he whined. "I'm a doctor. I'm not meant for all this sneaking around, avoiding-lunatics-with-guns stuff."

"And I'm an actor and a singer. Believe me, I haven't been going to spy school!" I hissed.

"Come on, let's move it, before Mr. McNutty decides to blow us to bits!"

We scurried down the hall, keeping a lookout for Mr. McNutty, as Logan had apparently nicknamed The Replacement. We kept an eye out for a supply closet, and finally found one.

I yanked it open and Logan and I both leaped out, half expecting the janitor's dead body to fall to the ground.

No bodies tumbled out of the closet, so Logan turned the light on, and we quickly located a couple of hammers. We grabbed them and closed the door, before hurrying down the hall, to the lobby.

Jo and Camille were there, examining the added wall, Camille and Jo both holding carving knives.

Logan and I raised our eyebrows at them, and the girls gave us sheepish looks.

"We were in the kitchen," Jo explained. "And we thought these might come in handy."

"Good thinking," I said. "They look like good weapons."

"Yeah. We were thinking they might be able to get through the wall, but now we're not so sure."

Logan and I walked over to the wall to examine it. It didn't appear to be too thick, but Jo was right – a carving knife probably wasn't going to do much damage.

"Where's Katie and Kendall?" I asked the girls as Logan and I hit our hammers forcefully against the wall.

Jo and Camille looked at me. "No idea. They ran off, and we haven't seen them since."

That didn't sit well with me. That didn't sit well with me at all.

But I didn't have time to dwell on it. At that moment, there was a screeching sound, and we all tumbled to the ground as the ship did a complete U-turn.

"What the hell?!" Logan yelped.

"I guess they found the control room," I mumbled.

The ship gradually straightened itself out, and we all got gingerly to our feet, the girls holding the carving knives a little more carefully now.

Logan and I continued to take our hammers to the wall, slowly creating a dent in the very center. It was time consuming work. The lobby was filled with sunlight by the time we managed to reach the plaster. Logan pulled out his phone to check the time. "It's after ten," he told us. "We have twenty-six hours left."

"That should be enough time, right?" I said to him.

"It should be…but that doesn't mean that it will be. The Replacement will figure out what we're doing, I'm certain of it."

"You think the hole in the wall is gonna tip him off?"

"Smartass."

"Always."

"Come on, let's try to get this plaster out of the way."

We continued to chop through the plaster, slowly taking the wall apart. It was a good thing the wall wasn't thick, otherwise we would've still been there when the bomb exploded, but it was still early evening by the time we managed to get the entire wall down.

And that's when we were faced with a huge safe.

"The bomb must be in there," Camille said, eyeing it.

I nodded in agreement. "It's huge though. I bet it's heavy."

"We should still try to move it," Logan put in, and we all moved into the closet. We stood around the safe and did our best to move it forward, but it refused to budge. We tried again. Nothing.

"Fantastic. Just fan-fucking-tastic," I growled. "And the fucking thing has a key lock – we need a key to get into it!"

Logan took a deep breath. "What do we do now?"

"Start looking for lifeboats."

"Are they even on the ship?"

"By rights they should be. I'm sure The Replacement didn't plan on going up in flames with the ship. He has a way off, we just have to find it."

"Okay. Let's start looking."

"Ummm…has anyone heard from Katie or Kendall?" Jo asked nervously as she checked her phone.

The rest of us pulled out her phones. No texts, no voicemails, no missed calls. Nothing.

"No…" I said, my eyes widening. "Oh man…It's been almost twelve hours since I last saw them…If The Replacement hurt them…"

"I'm sure wherever they are, they're safe," Logan said soothingly.

Jo and I both swallowed hard.

"I hope so," I mumbled out.

Jo nodded in agreement. "The Replacement's probably angry…What if he takes it out on them?"

"Would Kendall let Katie get hurt?" Camille piped up.

We all shook our heads.

"That's right. He'd protect her all the way to the grave. So we know Katie's all right."

"But we don't know the same about Kendall," Jo protested. "Anything could have happened to them."

"We could split up again. Camille and I could go look for the lifeboats, and you two could go look for Katie and Kendall," Logan suggested.

Jo and I looked at each other. "I don't know where we would look…" Jo admitted quietly.

"And I don't know where we would look for the lifeboats," Camille added. "We're at a dead end again."

"Not yet. We've lucked out so far. We just have to think," I told them. "We can figure this out."

Logan nodded. "James is right. We can find the lifeboats. We still have eighteen hours left. We can do this."

"I say we check the control room," I suggested. "Or maybe he has them out on deck."

"Okay, let's split up," Logan said. "Cami and I'll check the control room, and James, you and Jo go out onto the deck."

"Sounds good. We'll text you if we find anything."

"Same goes for us," Logan agreed. "I'll text Carlos to see where the control room is."

Jo and I nodded, and we headed off, stepping out onto the deck. The breeze hit our faces, and there was the occasional spurt of salt water that splashed on our skin. The sun was slowly beginning to sink down in the distance, but it was still light out, so we had some time to find the lifeboats.

"I really hope they're all right," Jo murmured, and I nodded in agreement.

"Same. I hope they're someplace safe, just hiding from The Replacement. But…"

"But…?"

"I think they would have come out by now. We would have seen at least one of them at least."

"I know." She bit her lip. "I just have this bad feeling, you know?"

"Yeah. I have it too."

We exchanged scared looks, still walking over the deck.

I hadn't realized how big the ship was until we were walking around the circumference of it. It took us what felt like forever before we had even made it halfway around, the both of us checking our phones every couple of minutes.

Just as we made a half circle, I spotted them, ten lifeboats propped up against the wall and strapped down.

"There they are!" I cried, and we hurried over to examine them. The straps were strong, the only things that kept the boats from falling over and possibly getting thrown overboard.

"I'll text Camille," Jo said, a relieved look spreading across her face. She reached into her jeans pocket to pull out her phone, but before she could grab it, the floor disappeared under our feet and we want tumbling down.

Everything went black.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

**Stephanie's POV**

"The tidal wave is disappearing," Carlos announced, examining the screen.

I smiled in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

Jenn nodded in agreement. "We might actually be okay. That's…wow…I can't believe what a relief that is."

"I wonder how the others are doing on finding the bomb," I spoke up, just as Carlos pulled out his phone.

"I got a text from Logan," he said. "He wants to know where the control room is. They're looking for lifeboats." He texted him back quickly as I frowned.

"There aren't any lifeboats here…"

"I know…" his phone beeped and he opened the next text. "He doesn't care, he's coming up anyway. I guess he thinks there's some kind of secret panel in here."

I rolled my eyes. Typical Logan.

A few minutes later, Logan, with Camille in tow, burst into the room.

"Logan, there aren't any lifeboats here," I told him.

"That's what Carlos said, but we need to double-check anyway."

"Go ahead," I spread my arms. "Tear the place apart. Maybe you'll find something that we didn't."

Logan and Camille both nodded, and began to dig through the nooks and crannies of the control room. Fifteen minutes later, despite going through every single inch of the room, they hadn't found anything.

"I just hope James and Jo managed to find the lifeboats," Camille sighed. "I guess I'll text Jo to ask her what's going on."

"We would have heard from them by now if they had found them," Logan pointed out.

"Maybe they forgot," Camille suggested. She pulled out her phone and texted Jo.

No response.

"Maybe she doesn't have a signal?" Jenn suggested.

Camille shook her head. "If I have a signal, then so does she – we have the same provider."

"Maybe her battery died," Kelly spoke up.

"I'll text James," Carlos volunteered. "His phone battery lasts forever." He sent James a text.

No answer.

"Am I the only one who has a really bad feeling about this?" I asked the room at large, biting my lip.

Camille shook her head. "Something's wrong…Something's really wrong…And we haven't heard from Kendall and Katie either…"

"Oh my God…you don't think…"

"I don't know…"

The screen's background suddenly changed from radar to that of a dark room. As the camera focused in, I realized that there were lamps burning, giving off a dim light. Before I could figure out just what exactly we were seeing, The Replacement came into view, dragging the camera along. "So," he spoke, his voice low and menacing, "it looks like you have managed to avoid the tidal wave. Good job. Congratulations. But the danger hasn't been averted yet. In fact, it's mounting by the second. Time is steadily running out. In fact, you now have eight hours left." The camera stopped moving, and he tipped it down so that it was facing the ground.

Laying there, bound and gagged, was Katie and Kendall, glaring fiercely at the camera and The Replacement. And beside them, just as tied up as they were, but unconscious, was James and Jo, lying on the floor.

"You really think you can beat me?" The Replacement hissed. "You're all fools! I cannot be beaten! If you choose to abandon this ship, you will be abandoning your friends. They will burn, and you will be just as guilty as if you had actually murdered them. But by all means, save yourselves. And be sure to tell everyone the story of how you left your friends to go up in flames. After all, what are friends for, right?"

And with those haunting words, he switched off the camera, leaving the image of our friends tied up in an unknown room implanted in our minds. He knew we had found the lifeboats, that was the only explanation for why he had suddenly given us permission to leave the ship. But he knew how to play us, he knew how to manipulate us. And kidnapping our friends and holding them prisoner would definitely manipulate us. He was once more pulling the strings and we were powerless to stop him.

We had two choices: We could save ourselves but leave our friends. Or we could die for them.

The question was, which one would we decide?


	19. Chapter 19: Haunted

**_Um...so...wow. This story is finally finished. Completed. Or, at least, this particular part of it is ;P So, if you guys want to consider this a Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or gift for whatever holiday you celebrate, then go right ahead, because it kind of is. Also, today the world was supposed to end, and a lot of the time I didn't think I'd get this story up until after the world ended, so it's kind of fitting that I post it today.  
><em>**

**_Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Big Time Rush. On the bright side, the apocalypse has been pretty mild, considering that everyone was expecting erupting volcanoes and stuff._**

**_Warnings: Innuendos, language, really long end A/N, and violence (if guns offend you, then please read this chapter with caution. I know a lot of people are sensitive after the Sandy Hook tragedies, and I don't blame you - I am too.)_**

**_Wow, no unsigned reviews to answer to today. Not sure how I feel about that...But hey, THANK YOU to everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following, and loving this story. It means so much to me, and seriously, without you guys, I probably never would have made it this far. I'm still in shock that you guys haven't given up on this story or on me, even when I was going weeks or months without updating. You're all so amazing, and you guys keep me writing, even when I just want to give up, so thank you! :) I love you all!_**

**_This chapter is dedicated to each and every one of you. :)_**

**_Enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19: Haunted<strong>

**James' POV**

**Three Years Earlier**

_**I looked at Katie, hyper-aware of her head on my chest, her breathing slow and even. I trailed my fingers through her hair, still in shock over what had just happened. I couldn't seem to process it, that I had just had sex with Katie Knight, that I had just taken her virginity. It didn't seem real, but here we were, laying side by side in bed, completely naked, one of her legs draped over mine.**_

"_**I love you, you know," I said quietly. "I really do."**_

_**She tilted her head so that she was looking up at me. "Do you really?"**_

"_**I do. I've been in love with you. I meant what I said, my feelings for you are very real."**_

_**Katie smiled slightly. "Good, I'm glad."**_

_**I smiled back. "I'll be with you no matter what. I'll always be there, I'll always protect you. You can rely on me."**_

"_**So…you're my safe place?"**_

"_**Yeah, if that's what you need."**_

_**She nodded. "I love you too, James. I don't know how you managed to fall in love with me, but I do love you, and I want to be with you more than anything in the world."**_

"_**I want to be with you more than anything in the world too."**_

_**Her smile widened. "Well, okay then. You know," she said, placing her hands on my chest, "I think this is the start of a very beautiful relationship." And with those words, her lips found mine.**_

**James' POV Cont.**

**2:05 AM**

The very first thing I realized was how much my head hurt. It was throbbing like someone had taken a hammer to my skull and decided to pound a few nails in. I raised my arm and ran my hand through my hair, searching for those nails, but couldn't find anything resembling sharp, pointy things. However, my fingers did come in contact with a swollen bump. I winced. Ouch…I guess I had hit my head at some point.

The next thing I realized was how much the rest of my body ached. I could have been run over by a train and I wouldn't have hurt as much as I did now. That realization was not promising.

I slowly opened my eyes. At first, I thought wherever I was stuck was pitch black, but then I realized that there were dimly lit lamps placed at different intervals around the room. There were lanterns as well, and I could smell gasoline – gas lamps. That somehow didn't seem to bode well either.

I slowly sat up, and for the first time I registered that my wrists and ankles were tied together, and there was a piece of cloth in my mouth. I guess being unconscious slows down your observation skills a little.

So…let's see. I was bound and gagged in a room with gas lamps burning. I was seriously hoping that those none of those lamps accidentally or purposefully got knocked over.

There was a movement beside me, and I turned my head to find myself staring at an equally bound and gagged Katie and Kendall. Oh, super. No wonder we hadn't heard from either of them. They had been too busy being held prisoner by The Replacement.

Katie and Kendall stared at me, eyes large and shadowed in the dim light, but they both looked terrified.

I felt something roll into my leg and I looked to my other side. Jo had just woken up.

I peered around the room, and quickly realized that we were in the speakeasy room. I could see the crates spread around the room, but they were open. And kneeling beside one of them, taking inventory by the looks of things, was The Replacement. He didn't seem to notice that his newest prisoners were awake – he was too focused on the bottles of liquid.

I glanced at the others, who looked back at me, desperation shining in their eyes. We needed to get out of here, and we needed to get out of here _now_. Easier said than done.

The Replacement finally looked around at us. "Oh, good, you're all awake. I'm sure your friends will be glad to hear that. That is, if they haven't already taken the lifeboats and jumped bail."

I glared furiously at him. What the fuck was he talking about?!

The Replacement laughed coldly at the look on my face. "What's the matter, James? You don't think they'll abandon you in order to save their own skins? You think they'll stay on the ship and try to rescue you? You think they won't jump ship the second they realize they're out of time? You're a fool. They won't save you. You'll all die on this ship, helpless, and there's nothing they can do about it."

All I could do was intensify my glare and pray that The Replacement was wrong. I couldn't give up on my friends. I couldn't. And I wasn't going to let Katie die here. I had to figure out a way to get her out of here.

But how? I was drawing a blank on amazing escape plans.

It was beginning to sink in that I was going to have to rely on the others to get us out of here. But how were they going to do that? They didn't even know where we were…

A light bulb went off in my head. If I could just let them know where we were being held, then they could come and rescue us from Mr. McNutty. And something else – this was ridiculous. There were four of us against one madman. There had to be a way for us to overpower him. Although the ropes and gags were hinders…There had to be a way to get out of them…or to at least reach my phone…

…My phone…which was in the front pocket of my jeans…I wonder…

The Replacement's phone beeped and he checked it. "Excuse me, kiddies, I have to go check on my bomb." With an evil smirk, he walked out of the room. I could hear his footsteps slowly fading as he climbed the stairs. There was the squeak of the door, and then a slamming as it closed behind him.

I turned to Katie, trying to figure out how to convey my message to her without talking since, you know, I was a little gagged up. I tried to raise my right hip, drawing attention to the pocket my phone was in. She gave me a weird look.

Okay. That hadn't worked. I nudged my hip into hers, grunting a lot through my gag. She glanced down at my pocket, and a light bulb seemed to go off in her head. She wiggled around – slowly, since she was tied up – and I pressed my right jeans pocket against her hands. Kendall threw us a disgusted look, like he thought I was getting her to give me a hand job or something. Uh, no. I'm just trying to save our lives, thank you very much.

Katie fumbled for a few seconds before drawing my phone out.

Next question: How to get the message to them? Since we couldn't see our hands, typing out the message would be pretty much impossible. And calling them wouldn't work since we were all gagged. However…The upside was, I knew my own phone better than the back of my hand. With any luck, I would be able to type out a somewhat readable message. If I couldn't…well, maybe Logan could figure out how to trace cell phones in the space of a couple of hours.

I struggled so that my back was facing towards Katie's and she transferred the phone to my hand.

Kendall and Jo wiggled over so that they could read my phone. Biting my lip in concentration, I got into my conversations with Logan and began to carefully sort out the letters, typing in the message slowly: _**BSMNT**_. Both nodded, letting me know that I had succeeded. Once I was finished, I hit what I was ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine percent sure was the send button. There was the rushing sound that my phone made when sending a text, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. Well, at least I had been able to send the text. That was something. And apparently I had even gotten the message right. I just hoped they knew what I meant by the basement.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and The Replacement came into sight. "You have five hours left before the bomb explodes. These are your final hours. By the time the bomb goes off, I will be far, far away from here, along with my cargo." He walked over to me and yanked the gag out of my mouth. "How do you feel about that, James?"

"A little annoyed. What's with the cargo?"

He smirked. "A special kind of liquid drug."

"So, alcohol."

"Not quite. It's something that Griffin, Snake, and I had been developing for quite awhile. It is made with several drugs – ecstasy, heroin, that kind of thing. The idea is to have a massive, epic high, to not come down from it for days, perhaps weeks. And no one will ever know just what it is, because what you're drinking resembles soda."

"Sounds pleasant," I deadpanned.

"Doesn't it? The druggies will pay top dollar for it. Since Griffin and Snake are both dead, I get all the profits. A win-win situation, if you think about it."

"Good to see you're being so positive about killing your cronies."

He shrugged and gave me a smile. "There's always a silver lining. For instance, you won't have to worry about the possibility of Katie Knight having your baby."

I swallowed, my stomach rolling with nausea. The baby…

I felt Katie shift beside me and I glanced at her. She looked every bit as sick and scared as I felt. I felt our hands meet and I entwined my fingers with her, hoping to reassure her a little bit.

She just gave me a sad look and rested her head on my shoulder.

The Replacement just smirked at us. "Ah, young love. How poetic. You two will be going up in flames in each other's embrace. How Shakespearean."

I just glared as ferociously at him as I could, before resting my head on Katie's. We'd get through this, I was determined.

* * *

><p><strong>Logan's POV<strong>

"It's obvious what we need to do," I said as I paced around the control room. "We need to find and rescue them."

Camille nodded in agreement. "We can't let them die."

"But how're we going to find them?" Stephanie asked, running her hands through her long, dark hair. "I mean, we don't even know where on the ship they are, and time's running out. We only have a few hours left."

"Maybe they're in the room under the trapdoor?" Carlos suggested.

"Maybe…" Jenn bit her lip, thinking hard. "Do we have enough time to split up and look for them?"

Kelly checked the time on her phone. "We have five hours…So maybe, if we can find them quickly."

"Well, we've got to try something," Gustavo insisted. "We can't let four of our own die."

"Agreed," Jenn nodded.

"So, let's split up," I said. "But there should be a couple people here to steer the ship.

"Gustavo and I'll do it," Kelly volunteered and we nodded, before scrambling out of the control room.

The five of us split into two teams, Jenn with Camille and me, and Carlos and Stephanie together. Carlos and Stephanie began searching the upper floors, while Jenn, Camille, and I made our way through the lower floors. Just as we had reached the lobby, my phone beeped and I pulled it out. I furrowed my brow as I saw that I had a text from James: **BSMNT**. What the hell was BSMNT?!

"Who's it from?" Camille asked, seeing the look on my face.

"James…what does BSMNT mean? Is that an acronym for something?"

"Um…" she took the phone from me and looked at the message. "I think it means _basement_."

"Basement? Like…they're in the basement?"

"No, they're picking out furniture for a basement. Yes, they're in the basement!"

"But – where's the basement? Under the trapdoor?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so…"

"Then where?"

"The room you were pushed into? The one we found you in?"

"Okay…"

"Come on!" Camille grabbed Jenn's and my hands and dragged us to the door that hid the stairs. She tried the door, but glowered when it wouldn't open. "Damn it, it's locked."

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, I heard The Replacement's voice drifting up towards us: "There's always a silver lining. For instance, you won't have to worry about the possibility of Katie Knight having your baby."

My eyes widened. There was a pause, and then he continued on: "Ah, young love. How poetic. You two will be going up in flames in each other's embrace. How Shakespearean."

A few moments of silence followed, and then there was the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. We all backed away into a closet, holding our breath as The Replacement passed by us.

"Let's go," Camille hissed as his footsteps faded away.

"I wonder where he's going," I said thoughtfully as he walked away.

"Probably to make his escape," Jenn replied. "Let's go get the others."

We opened the now unlocked door and scooted down the stairs. There were gas lamps burning throughout the room, illuminating the place and casting an eerie orange glow. But I didn't focus on that for very long; James, Kendall, Katie, and Jo were all on the floor, bound and gagged.

We rushed over to them, ripping the gags out of their mouth and beginning to work on the ropes. Camille pulled out a pocket knife and began to saw at Jo's ropes, finally cutting through them. She moved onto Kendall's. At last, all four were free, and they stumbled to their feet, shaking slightly.

"You got my message?" James asked me hoarsely as we hurried towards the stairs.

I nodded. "Basement, right?"

"Yep." We mounted the stairs and dashed up them, pushing through the door. The ex-captives blinked in the bright light, still rubbing their wrists and ankles where the ropes had chafed.

"By the way," Jo said, "we found the lifeboats. They're towards the back of the ship, and they're held down by extremely strong straps, so we might have to cut through them, I'm not sure if there's a button or something for them or not."

I nodded and pulled out my phone, sending a quick text to Kelly, Gustavo, Stephanie, and Carlos to let them know we had found them, and to direct them to the lifeboats. I slid my phone back into my pocket once my phone had confirmed that it had sent the text.

"We'll meet the others at the lifeboats," I said, and they nodded. We all headed for the door, but before we could step out onto the deck, there was the sound of a gunshot. With a glance over my shoulder, I spotted The Replacement charging down the stairs, gun aimed at us, a manic expression on his face.

"Nah uh," he breathed out. "No way. You're not leaving, none of you. None of you will survive this cruise. NO ONE!"

There was a long pause, and then we all seemed to come to our senses. We tore out the door, but there was the sound of another gunshot, and I heard Katie scream. I glanced over my shoulder in time to see James fall to his knees, clutching his arm and grimacing in pain. Katie collapsed beside him, face paper white. I could see blood gushing out of his arm, and my breath caught in my chest. He'd been shot.

I made a split second decision. "Run," I told the girls as Carlos, Kendall, and I rushed towards James, dodging a bullet as The Replacement shot at us again. "Go. Just…go."

Camille threw me a desperate look, before grabbing Jo and Stephanie's arms and pulling them out onto the deck. I wondered how long it would take them to get the binding off the lifeboats…

I reached James, falling down beside him as I examined his arm. His face was white, and he had lost a lot of blood by this point.

"Do something," Katie pleaded, tears streaming down her face.

In the background, I was aware of The Replacement walking towards us, gun aimed. I swallowed. He was going to finish us all off, just like this, with us gathered around James, Katie practically hysterical, Kendall trying to block the bullets from her as Carlos tried to hold The Replacement off.

I raised James' arm, biting my lip. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kendall taunting The Replacement. Another shot went off, and then another. Carlos began to back away, running for the door too, and there a fifth shot rang out. Five bullets…I wasn't sure, but I knew a lot of guns could only have six bullets at a time; I was hoping desperately that this was one of them.

Katie pulled off her hoodie, wrapping it around James' arm to staunch the bleeding. We hauled James to his feet, and began to move towards the door. I heard the last gunshot go off, but we all ducked, and the bullet sailed harmlessly into the wall.

Six bullets.

I heard the click of the trigger, but nothing happened. He was out of ammunition.

The next thing I knew, Kendall and Carlos were on the floor, wrestling The Replacement off of them – he had thrown himself at them. They scuffled around on the floor, fighting him. Katie and I helped James towards the door. He swayed slightly and stumbled, panting for breath.

"Come on," Katie whispered to him. "You can do it. Fight it. Don't…please fight…"

There was a _THUD_ and I turned my head to see Kendall, Carlos, and The Replacement up against the wall. Kendall and Carlos got to their feet, but The Replacement didn't get up.

"Let's go," Kendall panted. "He's unconscious, maybe dead. He hit his head pretty hard."

"Should we just leave him there?" Carlos asked. "I mean…should we just let him die?"

"He'd let us die," Kendall pointed out.

"True…"

But then The Replacement began struggling to his feet, though he seemed to have hurt his leg. He collapsed again, eyes blazing, panting heavily. "You'll be haunted by me! You can never escape!"

Ignoring him, we managed to get James out onto the deck, and moved towards the lifeboats. The girls had gotten one of the lifeboats untied and ready to set sail.

We clambered into the lifeboat with them and hit the button to release it, dropping it down to the ocean. We all winced slightly, James shuddering violently, as the lifeboat hit the water, and Katie held on to him, murmuring softly to him.

Carlos and Kendall began paddling the lifeboat away from the DLS-S Cruise ship, the wind helping to propel us along. The cruise ship never went after us.

It was fading away in the distance, a blotch on the horizon, like a splotch of watercolor on a perfect painting. And then…

There was an explosion, flames erupted, and there was a huge wave.

The DLS-S Cruise had exploded.

* * *

><p><strong>Katie's POV<strong>

**8:00 PM**

"It sure was a good thing there was a cruise liner coming your way," the coastguard said to us two days later. I nodded, not saying anything. He was right – we had been very lucky. The SS-Paulina, a cruise ship, had been headed our way and saw us. They were able to get us onboard and found us rooms. Two days later, they reached the Santa Monica pier and docked, before leading us to the coastguard's headquarters, where we were now at.

Beside me, James shifted, wincing slightly. They had managed to get the bullet out when we had been on the cruise ship, but his arm still hurt quite a bit. Apparently it had gotten lodged in pretty deep. But he was planning on heading to the doctor's to get it checked on, to make sure there wasn't an infection or anything, so hopefully he would be okay.

I gave him a small smile, taking his hand in mine. When he had gotten shot, he had been trying to act as a shield between the gun and me. He had quite possibly saved my life, along with our baby's life, if I really was pregnant. I had a feeling that I was, though, and it wasn't just the fact that we'd had unprotected sex about fifty times. There was just this weird feeling that I was carrying a little baby, a little fetus. James' baby…

I didn't know what was going to happen between James and me. We loved each other, that much I knew, and he had almost died for me, but that didn't change our past, or the fact that he was James Diamond and I was just…me. I trusted him for the most part, but I was still pushing bitter and angry feelings off, ones that I had held for three years. And there was also the fact that we weren't technically _together_, and for all I knew, we never would be.

But for now, it was nice to think that after this, we would go back to his place and make love all night long until the stain of everything that had happened in the last three years, hell, in the last week, was just a vague and distant memory. That was all I wanted right now, to feel his arms around me, his body against mine, his breath on my lips; to know that we were alive and safe and that nothing, not The Replacement, not long-held secrets, could harm us, could tear us apart.

"It is," Logan spoke up, addressing the coastguard chief. "It definitely is. I don't know what we would have done otherwise. I mean, with our cruise ship just exploding like that…"

"We're still combing the waters for the wreckage," the chief told us. "We've found the remains of four bodies so far."

We nodded somberly and I mentally counted them: Captain Montgomery, the cook, Griffin, and Snake. But…there was a body missing. The Replacement's.

As much as I hated to think about it, it was entirely possible that he had managed to escape from the ship before it had blown up. We had hoped he would have gotten killed, but somehow, I couldn't imagine that happening. It was more likely that he had gotten a lifeboat of his own and managed to get away before the bomb went off.

James gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled at me a little. I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. I just wanted this whole nightmare behind me already.

He stroked my hair softly, not saying anything. I could hear the soft murmur of voices, but I tuned them out.

We hadn't told them about The Replacement, we had agreed not to. The same went for the bomb. We didn't want to have to retell our story and explain the details to every single person in the world.

It was close to midnight by the time we were released from the coastguard office. We straggled to the car that Gustavo had called to pick us up, and we drove to a nearby restaurant that was open 24/7.

It was beginning to sink in that we weren't dead, that we were very much alive, that we were back on terracotta, that the danger was gone. We didn't need to be afraid anymore.

We ordered our food and sat at the table, all quiet, just letting everything flood back, simply feeling the relief of still being alive.

Our food arrived a little while later and we dug in, still not saying much because, really, what was there to say? James remained by me at all times, not saying anything, but just simply being there, like he was afraid if he left my side for more than a few seconds, something awful would happen.

At last, we left the restaurant.

"You'll crash at my place, right?" Camille said to Logan, who nodded.

"Definitely.

"And you can stay with me," Jo added to Kendall.

"Thanks.

"Jenn, you're more than welcome to stay with me," Kelly volunteered. "Same goes for you," she said to Gustavo. "I don't think anyone wants to be alone tonight."

"No, I don't think they do," Jenn agreed.

"Well, Carlos and I are staying together," Stephanie spoke up. "James, Katie? Are you two planning on going back to James' place?"

James and I looked at each other and I nodded. "Yeah, we are."

"Okay."

As we approached the car, I noticed a piece of paper wrapped around the antennae, flapping in the wind. James saw it too, and he frowned in confusion. We all walked over to it, and I pulled it off, smoothing it out. My heart almost stopped as I read what it said, and there was a sharp intake of breath from everyone around me: _**You didn't think a bomb would slow me down, did you? You can't escape that easily. I'm coming for you all…I'm haunting you. –The Replacement.**_

* * *

><p><strong><em>You guys are probably cussing me out right now, aren't you? Yeah, admit it, you are. But...there will be a sequel. Yes, that's right, there's going to be a sequel! I know a lot of you are probably about ready to start throwing stuff at your computer screen. You were hoping it was over, you were thinking "It's about time she finishes this damn story!" and then I leave you guys with a cliffhanger and an announcement that the story will continue. PLEASE don't throw anything at your computer, because that would damage it really badly and computers are expensive. But if you guys are upset, then I'm sorry. <em>**

**_It's just, I realized that I couldn't wrap everything up in the DLS-S Cruise. The Replacement is a lot like Murdoc from MacGyver. If you guys haven't ever seen MacGyver, go look it up because it's an awesome show. But anyway, Murdoc is an assassin in the show, and he never seems to die. He can fall a few hundred feet, he can drown, he can be caught in explosions, but he's still incapable of dying, and unfortunately, that's a bit how I picture The Replacement. And as long as he's out in the open and alive, he's still going to go after the group. Plus, their individual stories aren't finished either, and I know there was a few loose ends that you guys would probably love for me to tie up. So I really hope you don't mind there being a sequel, and I really hope you enjoyed the last chapter._**

**_So, review and let me know what your thoughts are. Show the review button some love, kay? And seriously, drop me a review, because I really want to hear your opinions. Well, okay, if your opinions are that I need to be banned from computers, than yeah, that I don't want to hear. But the other stuff I do. I love you guys! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!_**


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